A lorry driver used a truck given to send relief to Romania to smuggle more than £8million of cocaine into Dover.

Stephen Newland, 49, was stopped by UK Border Agency staff in July returning on a ferry from Calais.

Canterbury Crown Court heard that 40 kilos of drugs and 17 kilos of a cutting agent had been stashed in the bulkhead of his lorry.

It had been hidden so well that it took staff 50 minutes using cutting gear to discover the 45 bags of the class A drugs – which have a street value of up to £8.2million.

Newland, from Burscough, near Ormskirk in Lancashire, was jailed for eight-and-a-half years after he admitted drug smuggling.

His barrister Lalith De Kauwe had told how the former businessman turned lorry driver had been involved in a charity taking goods to Romania.

"He was involved from its inception in 2000, where a number of like-minded individuals in his community, in cooperation with Lancashire Police Force, helped raised a lot of relief and sending the goods to Romania. In this regard he made in excess of 10 journeys."

The lawyer said that in 2011 he was approached by "a third party" who loaned him the truck "with the express purpose of it being used for the Romanian charitable venture".

Newland's signwriting business went bust in 2007, leaving him with mounting debts. He was then offered £5,000 by the same third-party to do the drugs run.

"He realises that he has made a dreadful, ill-judged decision and he regrets it because he has let his family, his community and himself down," added Mr De Kauwe.

Judge Simon James said: "Those who are prepared to import these drugs play a vital role in bringing untold misery to society in general. This was an importation of class A drugs on a massive scale.

"You played a significant cog in what must have been a large and professional organisation. The fact that you were entrusted with such a valuable cargo must be some indication of the degree of trust placed in you by those further up the chain."