Officers found more than 9,000 illegal cigarettes inside a shop in a town centre.

Gravesend's Community Policing Team seized the haul after it attended the store in Milton Road, Gravesend, yesterday.

The patrol entered the shop at around 2.30pm.

Upon arrival the shop was empty, but while searching inside officers found the illegal cigarettes being stored.

Chief inspector of the north Kent Community Safety Unit, Shona Lowndes, said: "We work tirelessly to ensure any businesses found profiting from the sale of illegal cigarettes and tobacco products are dealt with robustly.

"Offending like this is not a harmless crime and opportunistic shopkeepers who sell these items also gain an unfair advantage over law abiding businesses which can have a detrimental impact on the livelihoods of shop holders acting legitimately.

"We continue to work with partner agencies, such as Trading Standards, to ensure any business found operating in this way is stopped from doing so, and we will continue to clamp down on businesses which are involved in this type of offending."

The untaxed tobacco was removed from the shop and officers are continuing to make enquiries in connection with the investigation.

Read more: All the latest news from Gravesend