A MAN accused of dealing drugs from his flat yesterday said the cannabis found there was for his personal use.

A jury at Teesside Crown Court heard that cannabis with a maximum street value of £900 was found at the home of Stephen Butterfield, 29, of Roseberry Road, Redcar, east Cleveland, when it was raided by police.

Mr Butterfield denies a charge of possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

He said that shortly before his home was raided, he had been given £1,750 by the council after it relocated him in order to demolish his previous house.

Some of this money, he said, he had used to buy more drugs for himself than usual and that was why there were such large amounts in the flat.

He said he smoked cannabis every day at the time to relieve symptoms of osteo-arthritis and had smoked it for up to 12 years. He had since given up, he said.

Sensitive scales found in his house, he said, were used to make sure he was buying the correct weight of drugs from his supplier.

He denied he had bought the drugs found with the intention of cutting them up and selling them on.

"It was for my own consumption," he said.

The trial continues.