A man tried to disguise more than £20,000 in cash as baguettes wrapped in tin foil while attempting to smuggle it out of the country.

Valentin Gjoni, 54, was in a car with two other people when they were stopped by Border Force officers travelling out of the UK through the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone.

He told officers they were travelling to Italy and then onto Albania and that there was no money in the vehicle.

But following a search, they found more than £20,000 wrapped inside tin foil - made to look like baguettes - in a cool bag.

More than £15,000 was also found hidden inside coat pockets and £5,000 located inside a handbag during the search in October 2020.

Kent Police was notified, and the money was seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Mr Gjoni, from Chessington in Greater London, objected to the forfeiture but at a hearing at Maidstone Magistrates' Court on Friday the order was granted for a total of £40,440.

Det Insp Dave Godfrey of Kent Police’s Economic Crime Unit said: "Whilst Mr Gjoni was never charged with any criminal offences in relation to this incident, they were unable to provide any verifiable evidence as to why they were carrying such large sums of money across the border.

"Our financial investigators regularly use the Proceeds of Crime Act to ensure money potentially earned through illegal means cannot be used to fund further criminal activity, and to reinforce the important message that crime does not pay."