A DRUG dealer who hid his supplies on farmland was jailed for three years yesterday.

Teesside Crown Court heard how police set up video surveillance after a farmer found a carrier bag filled with drugs on his land near Bullamoor Road, in Northallerton.

Christopher Baker told the court that after visiting the area and recording for 16 days, the police moved to arrest Martin Smith when he collected a package of drugs from the bag.

A police officer who jumped on to the bonnet of Smith's car escaped serious injury despite being thrown into a ditch.

Smith, 34, was arrested at his home a mile away, where police seized cannabis, cannabis resin, amphetamines and £2,000.

The court heard Smith had been arrested and released on bail ten months earlier when police found ten pieces of cannabis resin and amphetamines in his home.

Robin Denny, defending, said that Smith was heavily in debt and was supplying known drug users in an attempt to pay them off.

He said that Smith was very apologetic about what happened to the police officer on the car bonnet. Mr Denny said: "There was something of an ambush and a terrifying incident with windows being broken and officers with batons shouting 'strike, strike, strike'. He was terrified out of his wits."

Smith, of Forest Road, Northallerton, was jailed for three years and three months after he admitted supplying and possessing Class B drugs and also dangerous driving in November last year and September this year.

He was also banned from driving for a year.

The judge ordered that the drugs and money seized be confiscated.