TWO men who were caught in a nightclub with drugs which they were planning to sell each received six-month jail sentences yesterday.

Michael West, 19, was stopped at Time Nightclub, in Wilson Street, Middlesbrough, by a doorman carrying out the club's stop and search policy.

Teesside Crown Court heard that West, of Radnor Close, Stockton, handed over a bag containing ten Ecstasy tablets and said that he had sold three Ecstasy tablets already.

When his friend Peter Somerfield, 21, of Ribchester Close, Stockton, was told that he was going to be searched he produced 14 Ecstasy tablets.

West told police that they paid £150 for 100 tablets and had sold ten to friends for £2 each. He said it was the first time they had done it.

Sarah Mallett, prosecuting, said Somerfield claimed that Ecstasy tablets were as common in clubs as a bottle of beer.

The pair each pleaded guilty to possession of a Class A drug with intent to supply on October 4 last year.

Nigel Soppitt, in mitigation for Somerfield, said: "He and his friend hatched a plan to sell some Ecstasy. He and his friends used Ecstasy, it is common currency in the venues. They thought they would make a little money or obtain their drugs free."

He said Somerfield had a travel warrant to join the Coldstream Guards on the night of their arrests, and that he came from an excellent family.

Peter Sabiston, in mitigation for West, said that his client had lost his job in a local authority housing office because of his arrest, and he had begun to understand the devastating impact of drugs on others.

Judge Peter Fox QC told the pair that it must be known that people who planned to sell hard drugs must go to prison.

He said: "It is said on your behalf, Somerfield, that these are as common as a bottle of beer in your circle, it was a perfectly normal transaction.

"Those who regard it as normal and as common as a bottle of beer must get the message - selling hard drugs in nightclubs or even trying to do means prison.