POLICE have thwarted a plot to smuggle crack cocaine into the region from London, a court was told yesterday.

Police surveillance on Teesside led to observation of a meeting in Leeds between two Thornaby men and two men from London, who were jailed at Teesside Crown Court for a total of more than 25 years.

At the meeting, the London men were handed £10,000 in exchange for 15 pieces of crack cocaine worth nearly £24,000.

The drugs never reached the region because the Teesside pair's red Range Rover was intercepted on the A19, near the Crathorne exit, said Aidrian Dent, prosecuting.

The driver, Michael Scott, 40, from Thornaby, was caught with 11 blocks of crack cocaine wrapped in clingfilm and plastic bags, and another four were found later.

Its street value was £23,850, and £1,730 of cash was also found in a holdall.

The London men, who were travelling in a hired Vauxhall Neon, were tracked down that evening in the Hackney area of the city. In the boot was a plastic bag, with £10,000 cash in a brown envelope bearing one of Scott's fingerprints as well as his home address.

Scott's nephew, Anthony, 27, who was with him in the Range Rover, said that he had cleared a £2,000 debt by going to Leeds. London man Huntley Spence, 43, admitted that he had had been to Teesside to find a venue for music events. The second man, Jason Hull, 32, said he was to provide catering.

Nigel Soppitt, defending, said that Anthony Scott believed he was sent to Leeds as a fall guy since he was a drug addict saddled with debts.

Rod Hunt, also defending, said Michael Scott had been drawn into the crime by his nephew.

Michael Scott, of Havilland Road, Thornaby, was jailed for five-and-a-half years and Anthony Scott, of Hawthorn Avenue, Thornaby, was jailed for four-and-a-half years after pleading guilty to possession of a Class A drug on May 25 last year with intent to supply. Spence was jailed for eight years and Hull for seven-and-a-half years after being found guilty of supplying crack cocaine.