AN uninsured pharmacist, who is £42,000 in debt to his bank and drug suppliers, was struck off the register by the Royal Pharmaceutical's Disciplinary Committee yesterday.

John Dickinson, of the Dickinson Pharmacy of Spa Business Centre, Cramlington, Northumberland, had been arrested and prosecuted by police under the Misuse of Drugs Act because of the chaotic condition of his pharmaceutical records, regarding drug addicts he supplied.

DC Fleming confirmed that Mr Dickinson told him he owed the bank £12,000 and two wholesalers £17,000 and £13,000 and was "too frightened" to open his mail.

But in May last year, police had visited the pharmacy and found that the shop was in perfect order.

Yesterday, committee chairman Lord Fraser of Carmyllie QC said: "We are prepared to accept there has been a transformation in the way Mr Dickinson is running his business."

However, he ordered the pharmacist to be struck off for dispensing to the public while uninsured for nearly five years.