Two North Yorkshire men were in custody today after a massive police effort to catch blackmailers threatening to poison soft drinks.

Detectives swooped on a remote spot near Tadcaster, last night, at the end of a full-day surveillance operation involving 150 police officers. It followed a month-long operation by police after the soft drinks giant Britvic, which makes Tango and Robinson's drinks, received a string of threats to poison its products.

Britvic today sought to reassure the public that none of its products had been contaminated.

Police would not comment on the exact circumstances of the arrest, but it is understood that the remote field where they swooped was a pre-arranged spot set up with the blackmailers for the handover of a large but unspecified amount of cash.

A local man, aged 49, was arrested and, today, another man, aged 37, was arrested at a private address near York, police said. Both were today being taken to Essex, where Britvic is based, for questioning by Essex Police.

The extortion bid began on March 31, when managing director Stephen Davis received a blackmail letter.

The company immediately contacted Essex Police, which launched a joint operation with the National Crime Squad.

Chelmsford-based Britvic, which sells 100 million cases of soft drinks a year, has two factories in Leeds, but it is not known where exactly the blackmailers were intending to strike.

Det Supt David Bright, of Essex Police, who led the operation, said the threat involved poisoning soft drinks once they had left Britvic factories. He added that the two suspects had never worked for Britvic.

Mr Davis said: "We are very confident that none of Britvic's products have been contaminated in any way.

"We are a leading food and drinks manufacturer and are responsible enough not to give in to blackmail of any sort. Our number one priority throughout was to ensure customer safety."

A police spokesman said: "Police were called immediately and the operation was carried out with the full co-operation of the company concerned."

The two men, who have not been named, are being questioned at Chelmsford Police Station. Detectives are hopeful that charges may be made later today.

The operation last night involved so many officers, a spokesman said, because the spot had been a rural one and therefore there was a lot of ground to cover.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.