British 'martial arts experts' are being questioned by police after a foiled kidnap and extortion attempt on an expatriate in Tarifa.

British 'martial arts experts' are being questioned by police after a foiled kidnap and extortion attempt on an expatriate in southern Spain.Shoppers in the resort of Tarifa rescued the British victim as he was being bundled into a jeep by four men outside a supermarket. The suspects were arrested at a roadblock last Thursday on their way to the Strait of Gibraltar.Spanish detectives believe the group, who they describe as 'martial arts experts who belong to a criminal organisation', travelled from the UK on the orders of a criminal paymaster who had been attempting to force the victim to transfer £100,000 into British bank accounts. Spanish police said the victim was 'a law-abiding man' without criminal links, but would not say why he was targeted or release his name. A spokesman for Spain's Civil Guard said: 'The victim had been the object of a campaign of extortion. When he refused, the person demanding the money hired four British men to obtain the cash by kidnapping him.' Investigators said they believed the gang planned to fly back to Britain on Friday after carrying out the kidnap. Details of the four men, aged between 40 and 55, have been passed to British detectives.