A WEYMOUTH couple are set to be reunited with their £12,000 car two-and-a-half years after it was seized in a row over tobacco being brought into the country.

Mark Mills was returning from a trip to Belgium with business partner Robert Kerry in January 2006 when Customs officials at Calais searched his vehicle and found 43.5 kilograms of rolling tobacco.

Mr Mills maintains the tobacco was for personal use but officers confiscated it as well as the Volvo S60 he was driving, which belonged to his wife Harriet.

Since then Mr and Mrs Mills, from Preston, have been locked in a legal dispute with HM Revenue and Customs.

The couple were supported by a tribunal which ruled the car should be returned and in October last year the ruling was supported in the High Court as it dismissed an appeal by Revenue and Customs.

Despite the fact the High Court refused to grant permission to appeal, Customs went to the Appeals Court for special dispensation and a second appeal was due to be considered on Thursday.

It was not until last week that Customs revealed it was dropping the case and the couple would finally be able to reclaim their car.

Mr Mills says the costs of the legal process and the couple's lack of transport has caused his wife to abandon her beauty therapy business as well as spelling the end of his building and landscaping business.

He said: "We are absolutely delighted with the result, it's just a pity it has had to take two-and-a-half years of taxpayers' money. We haven't actually had any contact with Customs yet but we have been told they intend to return the car and we want it back in the same condition it was when they got it."

The couple have still been paying instalments on the car while it has been compounded and Mr Mills is now awaiting an offer of compensation that he hopes will go some way to making up for their ordeal.

He said: "It's been a tough two-and-a-half years. They have branded me a liar and taken my goods and I have had to go through the courts to prove I am innocent."

A Customs spokesman said: "The HMRC didn't believe the amounts involved in this case justified further appeal - we have taken this case as far as we want to. In accordance with the agreement reached with the European Commission over the appropriate policies in such cases, an offer will now be made to Mr Mills for the return of his car on payment of a fee.

"Mr Mills will also receive compensation for goods that the tribunal found were for his own use."