Received a Notice of Seizure letter from the border force today!! How disappointing. They never even offered me the ability to pay tax on the cigarettes. Any other UK buyers have any recent seizures?
Sorry to hear that! I had my cigs seized once, but that was very long time ago. They did offer me an option to pay duty in the letter I received.
Apparently things have changed. Now, if you want to get your stuff back and pay the duty, you'd need to make 'restoration request'. See here for details:
https://www.gov.uk/customs-seizures/get-your-things-back