THE final member of a drugs gang who went on the run as his accomplices went to prison has been caught.

Paul Daniel Heaton, from Manchester, was part of a gang that was jailed for almost 30-years for a plot to push cocaine in Scarborough.

The convictions followed a major investigation by North Yorkshire Police that lasted more than three years.

Heaton was arrested in North Wales by officers from Greater Manchester Police earlier this month.

The 26-year-old was wanted on warrant for around eight months after he failed to attend court to be sentenced for conspiracy to supply class-A drugs.

Officers across several force areas were involved in the search for Heaton who was also the subject of a number of media appeals across northern England.

He has now been remanded in prison and is due to appear at York Crown Court for sentencing next month.

It will be the final sentencing of a major investigation in which detectives uncovered a network of criminals from outside North Yorkshire peddling class-A drugs in Scarborough.