ON October 18, Bob Poole, a Customs and Excise officer at Birmingham International Airport, was stand-in speaker.

Employing the methods he uses in his job, where 12 million people pass through Customs each year, he put members at ease and then asked questions on the goods people try to smuggle in and the ways they might use to evade detection.

It was a very interactive meeting and members enjoyed seeing examples of items found.

Some stories were humorous, some amazing and some, such as incidents of attempts to smuggle large amounts of cocaine inside their body, horrifying.

One aspect of his job that gave him a lot of pleasure was working with various sniffer dogs, such as Weimaraner, many of whom made excellent pets after their working life came to an end.

The next meeting will be at 7.30pm on Friday, November 1, at Trinity High School when expert Jean Osborne will give a special two-projector slide presentation on the theme Canals - Dereliction to Recreation. Visitors welcome.

For details, call 01386 792082.