Former Scottish international footballer Frank McAvennie admitted that he used cocaine when interviewed by police, a court heard yesterday.

The former Celtic and West Ham striker, who is on trial for an alleged £110,000 drugs conspiracy, admitted having a small amount of the drug in his pocket when he was arrested, Newcastle Crown Court was told.

Mr McAvennie, 40 and unemployed, from Low Fell, Gateshead, said he bought £30 worth of the drug from an unnamed contact, but had not taken any of it.

In a taped police interview played to the court, Mr McAvennie said he had snorted cocaine before, but did not have a drug problem.

Mr McAvennie has pleaded not guilty to conspiring to supply amphetamines and Ecstasy.

He stands trial with Arthur Burke, 46, from West Denton, Newcastle, who has denied the same charges.

Replying to questions from National Crime Squad officer Detective Constable Martin White, Mr McAvennie said he usually took cocaine when he was drunk.

He said he would ''inhale it through my nose", and joked with officers that he had not tried the cocaine in the wrap, and asked them if they had scientifically tested it for quality.

The court heard that Mr McAvennie had been unemployed since he finished playing football several years earlier, and received about £50 in benefit each week.

He said he also earned several hundred pounds from interviews with national newspapers, which helped to pay the £300-a-month rent for the home he shared with girlfriend Karen Lamberti.

The prosecution alleges that Mr McAvennie conspired with Michael Edward to supply amphetamines and Ecstasy.

The court has heard that the pair and an acquaintance were observed by police driving to a house in West Denton, alleged to be Mr Burke's home, and Mr Edward was seen to pick up a package alleged to contain drugs.

The prosecution says Mr McAvennie and Mr Edward then took their acquaintance to Newcastle Central Station, where he boarded a train for Glasgow. The acquaintance was arrested and 5kg of amphetamine paste and 5,000 Ecstasy tablets, said to be worth £110,000, were recovered, the court heard.

During taped interviews, Mr McAvennie said he had been with Mr Edward and his acquaintance in a car but did not know what they were doing or where they were going.

The trial continues on Monday.