The BBC report dealers looking to illegally export European eels from the UK have been exposed by BBC Countryfile.

Posing as a UK fisherman who had legally caught the eels on the River Severn in Gloucestershire, presenter Joe Crowley was approached by Chinese and Russian buyers and a UK exporter.

An export ban on the endangered species has been in place since 2010.  The illegal trade has previously been focused on stocks in France and Spain but now smugglers have turned their attention to the UK, where glass eels can only be caught by licensed fishermen.