Three men have appeared in court charged with drugs offences after Border Force officers seized £7.5 million of cannabis from a yacht off the Sussex coast.

Border Force vessel HMC Searcher was patrolling off the coast of Newhaven when it deployed a boat to approach the yacht, which was about 10 miles offshore approaching Beachy Head.

After seizing 2,500kg of cannabis three men were arrested and the case was passed to the National Crime Agency for further investigation.

Hermann Josef Deuss, 63, and Willi Heinz Riechling, 56, both from Dusseldorf, Germany, and Walter Untermayer, 64, from Austria, have all been charged with offences under the Criminal Justice and International Co-operation Act, the Border Force said.

They appeared at Brighton Magistrates' Court this morning and have been remanded in custody until their next court appearance on Wednesday August 13.

Carole Upshall, Border Force regional director, said: "Our fleet of cutters operate 24 hours a day responding to intelligence and patrolling the length and breadth of the UK.

"They play a key role in intercepting and deterring shipments of drugs and other prohibited goods, as well as criminal gangs who attempt to traffic people into the country."