The BBC's Lisa Holland reports on the trend towards smuggling with trucks

Customs officers say cigarette smuggling has increased by more than four times over the past five years.

A staggering 70% of all hand-rolled tobacco bought in the UK is smuggled in from Belgium.

It is estimated that smuggled rolling tobacco from Belgium costs the Exchequer around £400m a year in lost revenue.

And there is a growing trend away from small loads in vans towards smuggling large quantities in freight lorries.

Call for tax freeze

Customs officers at Dover have just made one of the biggest ever seizures in the UK.

They discovered 2.4m cigarettes hidden in false side panels of a lorry travelling from the Continent.

Customs says the government has promised millions of pounds to recruit more officers to try to combat the problem.

It is hoped that the money invested in new officers will help recoup an additional £80m in lost revenue by the end of the year.

'Freeze taxes'

The trade in tobacco burgeoned with the completion of the European Union's single market in 1993 when import restrictions were eased within the EU.

Imperial Tobacco wrote to Chancellor Gordon Brown earlier this year urging him to review tobacco taxation and freeze all tariffs, which are among the highest in the EU.

The problem at the moment is that the practice can only be tackled if all 15 EU member states agree to harmonise their tax rates.