PRINCE Charles paid a private visit to Customs and Excise at Dover's Eastern Docks this afternoon to see for himself the work that goes on behind the scenes at the busiest passenger port in the world.

The visit was arranged after the Prince invested a Customs officer with the MBE and spoke to him about his work.

The officer, whose name has not been released, is usually based at Heathrow Airport but was at Dover to meet the Royal visitor.

During his 75-minute visit, the Prince was told how the Customs authorities gather intelligence about smuggling operations, and he was shown some of the goods which had been seized at the port recently.

He also saw the x-ray scanning equipment which is used to detect concealments in vehicles.