More than 1,000 tonnes of illegal rubbish, which was intercepted at the port of Gdynia, northern Poland, will be returned to Britain, local news agency IAR reported on Tuesday.

The rubbish was hidden in about 45 containers and marked as containing recyclable plastics and rubber. It was detected in a joint operation by Polish environment and treasury offices last month.

Cartons, metal beverage cans, packaging for domestic detergent and even engine oil has also been found, said Marian Mazur of the environmental protection office in Gdansk.

"Everything was dirty, smelly and wet," he added.

IAR reported that the containers, destined for two Polish waste-processing companies, were shipped from six British firms. The items should have been approved by Poland's environmental protection office before being shipped. Enditem