THE brother of former England striker and TV pundit Gary Lineker has been jailed for two-and-half-years for cash smuggling.

Wayne Lineker pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the tax authorities of UK and Spain.

The £220,000 fraud was linked to a chain of sports bars he launched to cash in on his brother's fame.

The millionaire businessman owned eight pubs and has franchises on three others around the world. They bore the famous family name and displayed memorabilia from Gary's days as one of the world's great strikers.

With the help of a friend, Lineker, from Fyfield, Essex, smuggled profits from the bars into the UK in suitcases without declaring it to tax authorities.

The 41-year-old and two other men, David Hodges and John Stacey, were jailed for a total of five years at Southwark Crown Court today, following an investigation by City London Police Fraud Squad.

Lineker also had a £90,000 confiscation order awarded against him.

Detective Constable Stephen Annis, of the City of London Police Fraud Squad, said: "Fraud is not a victimless crime and any case of fraud that comes to our attention is diligently investigated and the full process of the law will face any perpetrators and we will recover the proceeds of crime.

"In the case of this £90,000 confiscation order, if Mr Lineker fails to pay the order in full then he faces two further years in prison".

Gary Lineker, 45, was top scorer at the 1986 World Cup finals and at the peak of his career was a star at Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur. He now hosts BBC's Match of the Day and major televised golf events.