by Paul Hooper

Expert forger Colin Edgar - who planned to flood the UK with fake £20 and 50 Euro notes from his offices in Maidstone - has been jailed for six years.

Edgar, 37, from Priory Place, Faversham admitted charges of producing counterfeit notes with intent and forgery.

His wife Angela, also 37, who was convicted of her part in the scheme,will be sentenced later.

Another gang member was Edgar's brother Christopher, 39, from south London who was sent to prison for 12 months. The brothers both admitted the charges.

Canterbury Crown Court heard how they ran their operation from an industrial estate at Laddingford - in what the Bank of England described as "a well thought-out, planned and professional operation."

Colin had been planning the scam while he was still serving a six-year sentence for forgery.

The judge told them that £77,000 in fake notes had already been circulated before Kent police swooped on their offices last year.

After the hearing, senior officer Detective Inspector Eddie Fox said Edgar was one of the most determined forgers in the country and the printing machines he had installed had been capable of producing 10,000 notes an hour.