CUNNING smugglers set up a bogus company to ship £1m of herbal cannabis into the UK from abroad, a court heard.

The firm, Andalusite UK at the Riverside Road Industrial Estate in Sunderland, used a front of importing minerals from South Africa.

But Newcastle Crown Court heard how herbal cannabis was stashed within the shipments.

The crime was foiled when customs officers at Tilbury Docks, Essex, discovered a £250,000 haul in one of the imports.

Robert Anderson, 28, of Hudston Road, Sunderland, and Stephen Vaughan, 41, of City Road, Newcastle, have already admitted conspiring to import cannabis.

But William Hellens, 44, of Mafeking Street, Pallion, denies being part of the conspiracy.

Prosecutor Penny Moreland said: "We know there was a conspiracy because Vaughan and Anderson have admitted they were part of it.

"The question is whether this defendant was involved."

She said Mr Hellen's fingerprints were found on a document used as a reference to secure the tenancy for the firm's Sunderland base.

After the cannabis was discovered at Tilbury, Mr Hellens travelled to Europe.

He later returned to Sunderland and was arrested when stopped by traffic police, said Ms Moreland.

The trial continues.