ATTEMPTS to close an offshore off-licence are poised to go before the courts.

Entrepreneur Philip Berriman is considering taking the case to the European Court of Human Rights after Customs and Excise officials seized his yacht and cut-price stock of alcohol and cigarettes.

The 46-year-old maritime engineer said the floating off-licence, which was operating in international waters 13 miles off Hartlepool, was exploiting a loophole in legislation and was legal.

He said the decision by Customs officers to detain his 72ft yacht, the Rich Harvest, when he put into port for minor repairs, and to confiscate £150,000-worth of stock, was illegal.

After meeting his lawyers yesterday, Mr Berriman said he might take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.

He said: "We are claiming damages for every day we are out of business. I have nine crew to pay and they are all on good wages and we will be claiming money for them. We made £10,000 in just the first few days.

"It is harassment. Customs have not got a leg to stand on, but I believe they will be backed by the Government as long as they are saving the Government money.

"We are prepared to take it straight to Europe, to the Court of Human Rights. I do not suppose the British justice system would support us against the Customs.

"And Customs would probably try and price us out of business by continually adjourning proceedings. We will be better off going straight to Europe."

He said the detention of the boat and its stock came as a surprise.

He said: "I expected them to do something, but I did not expect it to be something so blatantly illegal.

"I expected them to hassle my customers for a while. I think what they are trying to do is to delay, disrupt and harass as much as they can until they get more legislation in place."

A Customs spokesman said: "The vessel Rich Harvest was detained by Customs at Hartlepool yesterday, along with a quantity of excise goods stored on board.

"The detained excise goods have today been removed by Customs in the belief that they are neither declared nor duty-paid.

"Customs will be making additional inquiries before any further action is taken."