The men, arrested in connection with the police investigation, Operation Chalice, appeared at court in Shrewsbury today after the collapse of an earlier trial at Stafford Crown Court on 6 September. The case collapsed on legal grounds.

Speaking at Shrewsbury Crown Court, Mrs Deborah Gould, prosecuting, said the defendants in the case would now face a series of separate trials.

The nine defendants from the Telford area are Ahdel Ali, 23, Murbarek Ali, 28, Mohammed Ali Sultan, 24, Tanveer Ahmed, 39, Mahroof Khan, 33, Noshad Hussain, 21, Mohammed Islam Choudhrey, 52, Mohammed Younis, 59, and 34-year-old Abdul Rouf.

Two of the nine defendants from Telford were exempt from the first trial due to illness.

A date and venue for the retrials will be set on 14 October.