£76,000 in bank notes has been seized by police under the Proceeds of Crime Act after officers disproved claims by a man that it was inheritance money.

The cash was found in a rucksack in a hotel room in Birmingham after staff became suspicious, leading to the arrest of a 46-year-old man with links to the Dudley area.

He was later released without charge but the money was seized when he failed to prove his story that he had inherited the money from a Saudi Arabian estate.

Police say the money, which they suspected were from drugs profits, will now be used to fund community projects or crime prevention schemes.