Two Slovakian men who travelled to the UK armed with an airgun, CS gas and pepper spray to carry out a revenge attack on a love rival have been jailed.

Robert Stehlik, 24, and Milos Bellan, 41, were arrested when they arrived on a ferry from Calais into Dover in the early hours of January 13.

During a search of the car Border Force officers found two cases of ammunition for an airsoft gas gun, one containing CS gas cartridges and the other pepper spray.

They also found two balaclavas and papers showing that French police had seized a haul of weapons from them earlier on their journey, including two gas guns, two extendable batons, a flick knife and two tasers.

They had been released on bail by the French and continued towards the UK.

In interview, Bellan claimed they had travelled to have a holiday and then find work. He said the weapons were for self-defence and they had balaclavas to go skiing.

But investigators found further evidence suggesting their trip had a sinister motive.

Stehlik had set up a false Facebook account in order to befriend and track down the new boyfriend of Bellan’s former partner. Photos of the girl and her new boyfriend, as well as pictures of his house and work were also on one of their phones.

"These men were involved in a serious criminal conspiracy, and there is no doubt that their intention in coming to the UK was to do harm..." - Matt Rivers, NCA

The pair later admitted charges of conspiring to possess an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

At Canterbury Crown Court today, they were each sentenced to 20 months in prison and given two year restraining orders.

Two other charges of conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm and conspiring to commit false imprisonment were left on file.

Matt Rivers from the NCA’s Border Policing Command said: "These men were involved in a serious criminal conspiracy, and there is no doubt that their intention in coming to the UK was to do harm.

"Had had they not been stopped the consequences could have been extremely serious.

"NCA investigators worked quickly to establish the location of the intended victims and ensured that they were safe, then built up strong evidence that led to guilty pleas."

Director for Border Force in the south east and Europe, Paul Morgan, added: "Border Force works closely with the National Crime Agency and other agencies to prevent the importation of weapons into the UK as well as refuse entry to the UK to people who intend to do harm.

"We are determined to prevent dangerous and often deadly weapons such as these from getting onto the streets of the UK and being used to cause harm.

"If you are caught by our officers trying to smuggle dangerous weapons like these into the country you will face prosecution."

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