DRUGS worth almost £10,000 and more than £5,000 in proceeds from sales were recovered in a police raid on the home of a wholesale heroin supplier.

When police armed with a search warrant called at Paul Griffiths' former home, in Pallister Park, Middlesbrough, asking if he had any drugs, he told them: "I'll show you".

Durham Crown Court heard that 16 bags of heroin, weighing about 50 grammes, were recovered from under a television set.

Sarah Mallett, prosecuting, said a dealer's list and £4,850 were found in a shoe box on the top shelf of a wardrobe, while a further £475 was also seized by officers.

In interview he accepted he was a "wholesaler", selling in one-eighth of an ounce heroin deals, known as "Henrys", for £100 each.

He told police he had been dealing for about two months as he had no income, debts and an overdraft.

Miss Mallett said Griffiths, a banned driver, was also arrested after a high-speed car chase which ended with him colliding with two other vehicles in Wellesley Road, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough, last December.

Greg Purcell, mitigating, said that police on the raid were "taken aback" at the frankness of Griffiths' admissions.

Mr Purcell said Griffiths turned to drug dealing some months earlier as a means of meeting his debts.

But he is now fearful of coming into contact in prison with associates of a money lender with whom he still has outstanding debts.

Griffiths, 24, of Herbert Street, North Ormesby, admitted possessing a class A drug with intent to supply, plus dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.

Jailing him for four years, the judge, Recorder John Norris told Griffiths it would have been more but for his admissions.

Judge Norris confiscated the £5,325 recovered in the raid and ordered it should go towards "Middlesbrough's fight against drugs". He also banned Griffiths from driving for two years.