Three men were remanded in custody after appearing in court charged with conspiracy to import cocaine into Britain after £8m worth of the drug was allegedly found attached to lobster pots off the coast.

The trio were arrested at Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight after a member of the public spotted rucksacks attached to the pots off the south coast on Sunday morning.

About 200kg of cocaine, with an estimated street value of £8m, was allegedly discovered after the rucksacks were recovered from the sea.

Jamie Green, 42, Veljko Protic, 34, and Daniel Payne, 35, appeared at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court after being charged with conspiracy to import cocaine.

All will appear again at the same court on June 9.