A cocaine-smuggling grandmother could be in jail until her 90th birthday after she and her daughter were caught at the Port of Dover.

Ambrozine Heron, 77, and 49-year-old Paulette Chambers were sentenced to 13 and 14 years respectively for smuggling 16 kilos of cocaine, with an estimated street value of £800,000.

The pair - both from Smethwick, Birmingham - were intercepted arriving at the port by Customs officers in March this year.

Their car was searched and the class A drug was found concealed in 20 tins of fruit.

Canterbury Crown Court heard the vehicle used in the smuggling operation was a mobility scheme car Heron was entitled to because of her disability.

On sentencing, Judge Adele Williams said Chambers was the "prime mover" but Heron was a "willing participant in the importation".

She told Heron: "I have no doubt your role in the car was to show respectability in respect of your age and health problems."

Malcolm Bragg, assistant investigation director for HMRC said: "This is the latest in a series of successes by HMRC and highlights our proactive role in reducing drugs being brought into the UK."

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