Warnings have been issued to the Government over a lack of Customs and Excise staff at Leeds- Bradford Airport.

The north-east is Britain's second worst area for bootleg imports - but the airport has no permanent excise staff to tackle the problem.

Officers are only called into the airport if they fear problems or get a tip-off.

At a national conference, held in Bradford's Midland Hotel today and yesterday, 150 delegates heard Customs and Excise service national chairman Richard Broadbent call on the Government to put more money into the service and its staff. The Government saved the jobs of 1,200 staff due to be axed in the last Budget but Yorkshire union president Neil Priestman warned this was not enough.

He said: "There is nothing at Leeds Bradford airport to stop people getting off the plane with suitcases of cigarettes and walking through.

"Just one person may not seem like a lot, but two large suitcases full of cigarettes will produce about £10,000 in revenue.

"The staff are all in Leeds and can only be called on if they suspect a flight is coming which may cause problems.

"Even Newcastle, which is not as busy as Leeds-Bradford, has permanent Customs and Excise staff."

He added: "Unless Mr Broadbent proves within his term that more staff are needed, Customs and Excise could be streamlined further with a merger with the Inland Revenue."

Yorkshire branch secretary Jim O'Neill said more money needed to be spent on front-line staff as the airport continues its expansion, which could be accelerated still further if it takes in direct flights from Pakistan.

"There are bodies in the backrooms but they need to be transferred to the front line where they can tackle the problems."

He added: "This conference has been a marvellous occasion to call on the Government to increase staff at Leeds-Bradford and other parts of the country."

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