A DRUG dealer barricaded himself in his room and tried to get rid of his heroin when police came to arrest him.

Michael Graham was one of the street suppliers targeted by detectives tackling the drugs menace in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.

When officers arrived, Graham hid in his room and tried to scatter the heroin.

But Durham Crown Court heard that the room's carpet was analysed and traces of the drug were found.

Police also found small amounts of heroin, bottles of the heroin substitute methadone, £260 cash and mobile phones used for dealing.

Graham's arrest was made as part of Operation Britten .

The crackdown has resulted in convictions and sentences ranging from a 21-month suspended sentence to three-and-a-half years in prison.

Tim Gittings, prosecuting, said Graham and his two "runners", Wayne Ellison and Craig Bennett, and others, were involved in the "busy street level supply of heroin in the Bishop Auckland area" for about a year.

He said it was difficult to put precise quantities on the drugs supplied or the number of customers who bought £10 wraps of heroin.

Police mounted an undercover operation that involved an officer posing as an addict.

Graham, 25, and Ellison, 33, both of separate addresses in St Cuthbert's Walk, Bishop Auckland, admitted conspiracy to supply heroin, as did Bennett, 19, of Ashcroft Gardens.

Ellison also admitted shoplifting, driving while disqualified and burgling a house in St Cuthbert's Walk.

Barristers for Ellison and Bennett said their involvement in the dealing was limited and they were doing it to feed their habit.

Eric Elliott, for Ellison, said he burgled the house to raise money for heroin and hid his haul in a bush.

"It is a mark of the level of his sophistication that when he went back to collect his booty someone else had stolen it."

Judge Maurice Carr adjourned sentence and remanded the trio in custody.