A customs officer told a court he was tipped off by a crew member of a plane in which it was alleged cocaine was due to be exported to Britain.

Robert Shelswell, from Customs, said he was first contacted by Nikolai Luzaic, from Jamaica, four days before the drugs arrived in the UK.

Four men, including flight engineer Martin Lake from Storrington, are charged with smuggling 271kg of cocaine, which was seized at Southend airport, Essex, on October 16 last year after a Boeing 707 landed.

The prosecution at Basildon Crown Court alleges the cocaine was flown from Jamaica and dropped on to the runway at Southend in six cases.

The jury heard Luzaic, in charge of security for the trip, told Mr Shelswell by phone where and when the cocaine would be brought into the UK.

The court heard Luzaic claimed he had been duped into taking part in the trip but was not willing to get involved.

As a direct result of the tip-off, Customs officers were lying in wait for the aircraft, seized the drugs and arrested those on board.

The defendants, who all deny smuggling cocaine, are Christopher Barrett-Jolly, 54, of Wellington, Somerset; Peter Carine, 50, of Hensall, North Yorkshire; Lake, 61, of Bracken Lane, Storrington; and Duncan Adamson, 41, of Great Warford, Cheshire.

The trial continues.