Tobacco smuggling is now a highly-sophisticated, well-organised industry

Paul Mason, the Tobacco Alliance

And so lucrative is the illegal tobacco trade that drug smugglers are now turning to black-market cigarettes for a more profitable, less risky business.

The Alliance's national spokesman Paul Mason told BBC News Online that contrary to the popular "amateur" image of people bringing back small quantities of tobacco from trips abroad the operations were vast.

Mr Mason, who owns a corner shop in Southampton, said: "Tobacco smuggling is now a highly-sophisticated, well-organised industry."

Government figures show that �3.5bn was lost in 2000 from unpaid duty on tobacco - equivalent to �150 for every household in the UK.

Mr Mason added: "This illegal trade is having a devastating impact on the country's traditional network of corner shops.

"If the Chancellor ignores our plea, many more corner shops - the backbone of communities up and down the country - will disappear for good."

What we want to do is make smoking safer and help our businesses

Shopkeeper, Audrey Wales

Mr Mason dismissed health campaigners' arguments that the campaign to secure a freeze or reduction in tobacco duty at the Budget would encourage smoking.

"There is absolutely no evidence that higher taxes reduce consumption," he said.

"People are still smoking - they are just smoking smuggled tobacco."

Audrey Wales who runs a corner store in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, is backing the fight.

She told the BBC: "We are not advocating smoking at all.

"Smuggling is on the increase and there is no guarantee on tar levels with black market cigarettes.

Smuggled cigarettes

"What we want to do is make smoking safer and help our businesses.

"When people buy smuggled cigarettes they do not come into our shops and buy a paper, they do not buy a bar of chocolate, they do not buy a packet of crisps - they just do not come in at all."

The campaigners are to lobby the Treasury and Downing Street on Wednesday.

Already, 15 MPs, including foreign secretary Jack Straw have shown their support.