About 40 kilos of cocaine with a potential street value of £1.6m has been seized from a cheese lorry at Dover's Eastern Docks.

It was discovered on Friday evening when officers stopped and searched a Lithuanian-registered lorry carrying a load of cheese.

They were hidden in the bodywork of the vehicle which had arrived at the port from Calais.

A 34-year-old Lithuanian driver, Edvinas Janusauskas, was arrested and the investigation passed to the National Crime Agency.

He was later charged with the attempted importation and appeared before Dover Magistrates Court on Monday, where he withheld his plea.

Janusauskas was remanded in custody and will next appear at Canterbury Crown Court on Monday, June 15.

Paul Morgan, director of Border Force South East and Europe said: “By making this seizure, worth an estimated £1.6m,Border Force officers have prevented a substantial quantity of dangerous class A drugs from ending up on the streets of the UK and have put a serious dent in the profits of the criminals involved in this type of smuggling.

“Working with law enforcement colleagues like the NCA we are determined to do all we can to prevent drug trafficking and put those responsible behind bars.”

Anyone with information about activity they suspect may be linked to smuggling is asked to call the smuggling hotline on 0800 59 5000.