A MAN has been charged with smuggling £1m of cocaine after being arrested at a grass airstrip.

Officers from Border Force, the National Crime Agency (NCA) and North Yorkshire Police arrested Dean Ash, at Bagby Airfield, near Thirsk, on Sunday.

Mr Ash, of Links Road, London, is alleged to have been connected with a light aircraft that had recently arrived from the Netherlands and contained about seven kilos of cocaine.

The 38-year-old appeared before Leeds Magistrates' Court on Tuesday (October 20), and was remanded in custody to appear before Leeds Crown Court on November 3.

It is understood pilots and workers at the airfield, which is popular with hobby pilots, have been "gobsmacked" by the developments.

Paul Tallentire, from the NCA’s north east border investigation team, said: "This was a substantial seizure of cocaine which if cut and sold in the UK would have had a likely potential street value in excess of £1 million.

"Working with law enforcement partners like Border Force and North Yorkshire Police we are determined to do all we can to prevent small airfields being used for criminal purposes."

Mark Robinson, assistant director of Border Force Yorkshire & Humber, said: "We have stopped a sizeable amount of cocaine making it onto the streets of the UK."