Cornwall is to be "abandoned" to criminal smuggling gangs, it has been claimed, after Customs confirmed that it would close its last remaining outpost in the county next year.

Drug busting operations in the county have been severely curtailed in recent years after a series of cuts robbed Cornwall of its permanent Customs cover.

A handful of Customs intelligence officers continue to be based at Falmouth, gathering information on suspect vessels entering Cornish waters.

However, the Western Morning News has learned that the station will be closed by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) in 2012.

Sources said that the local intelligence officers were being replaced by "three blokes based in Gatwick".

"Despite the clear risks posed by drug smugglers, the UKBA seem content to abandon Cornwall completely," one Customs source said.

"They are closing the door on hundreds of years of vital Customs service in Cornwall and at the same time opening the door to all and sundry."

The UKBA confirmed that Falmouth Custom House would close "early next year" and that Cornwall would be covered by "mobile teams" working on an "intelligence-led basis".

But the Customs source said the "chain of intelligence" would be "fatally weakened" with officers supposedly covering Cornwall from nearly 300 miles away.

Since 2003, information from Cornwall has been central to the seizure of more than £100 million-worth of drugs from an illegal UK industry worth £8 billion per year.

"They are only interested in managing passport queues at large airports and ports," the source said. "They couldn't care less about yacht traffic, despite clear evidence that it is an option used by drug smugglers and other criminal gangs."

Six months ago, the WMN revealed that UKBA targets for drug seizures and contraband goods were being missed. The UKBA – a merger of customs and immigration services – did, however, boast a near-100 per cent record for "queue performance".

The demise of Customs resources in the Westcountry began in 2003, when more than 100 officers were transferred to "mobile teams" to help cover ports and airports in the South East.

A small permanent team was later reintroduced in Plymouth. A handful of officers based in Falmouth, who continue to be dispatched around the country, are now facing redundancy or redeployment.

The latest decision to axe intelligence posts in Cornwall flies in the face of criticisms made by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary two years ago.

It said the removal of local Customs officers, who "had the opportunity to liaise with the community to garner local intelligence", had meant the "flow of information all but dried up".

It added: "The strategy of concentrating large numbers of staff in hubs, supplemented by mobile teams, cannot be shown to be more effective for detection's current mission than providing a wider fixed presence across the UK."

A UKBA spokesman confirmed that Falmouth Custom House would "close early next year".

He said the merger between the customs and immigration service had "changed how we keep the border secure against illegal immigration and smuggling".

He added: "Given Cornwall's lengthy coastline and large number of small ports and harbours, a static thin blue line of staff based permanently at a single port has been found not to be cost-effective.

"Using mobile teams allows the UK Border Agency officers to go, on an intelligence-led basis, to where the risk is greatest.

"We also have a fleet of modern world class vessels and crews who are continually active in the South West Approaches. They regularly challenge small vessels off the more remote locations."

Asking why Customs intelligence posts were being switched from Cornwall to Gatwick, he added: "It is important that we develop with the changing needs of the community we serve.

"By centralising our intelligence we are able to focus resources effectively. We will, however, still have UKBA staff on the ground.

"We have established a local immigration team in Devon and Cornwall, which has increased our ability to tackle illegal working on a local level and has given us an even greater opportunity to detain and remove illegal immigrants.

"We will also have mobile units so we can focus our resources where we believe there is the greatest risk of immigration and customs abuse."

Brodie Clark, head of border force at the UKBA, told the WMN: "The UKBA is undergoing significant change through modernisation of its working practices, including the integration of customs and immigration controls within one Border Force.

"By doing this we are also reviewing the way we deploy our staff so that we maintain frontline services despite an overall reduction in resources.

"Our priority remains to secure the border and to control migration while achieving best value for the taxpayer."