A PRISON visitor was arrested by police after cannabis was found hidden in his underpants.

Police were tipped off that Christopher Lonsdale was attempting to supply drugs to a prisoner at Deerbolt Young Offenders' Institution, near Barnard Castle, County Durham.

He was stopped by officers on November 21, when he tried to enter the prison and handed over 11.8g of cannabis resin and 3.66g of herbal cannabis which had been concealed in his underwear.

Teesside Crown Court heard that the drugs, worth about £40, were intended for prisoner Matthew Linskill, 20, who was serving a sentence for motoring offences.

Both men were arrested and each pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to supply controlled drugs.

Lonsdale, 57, of Cheltenham Street, Leeds, was given a nine-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Linskill, originally of Moorfield Road, Leeds, also received nine months to run consecutively from his current sentence.

The arrests followed a two month operation at Deerbolt last year involving prison staff and police aimed at cracking down on visitors smuggling drugs to inmates. A number of arrests were made with drugs, including cannabis, Ecstasy and heroin, seized.

Nine people are awaiting to appear at court for drugs related offences.

Detective Sergeant Sean Jackson, of Bishop Auckland police, said: "People should think twice before attempting to smuggle drugs into prison as it will not be tolerated."

The Northern Echo revealed earlier this year how the region's prisons were fighting to stem a rising tide of drugs.