TWO friends arrested during a police operation to disrupt the supply of cocaine in Darlington were locked up yesterday.

Ricky Turner, 22, was jailed for three years and David Catchpole, 20, was sent to a young offenders' institution for two years.

A court heard the friends were addicted to cocaine and received drugs from a dealer as payment for working for him.

Judge George Moorhouse told them: "Anyone who gets involved with drugs, at whatever level, is committing an extremely serious offence which justifies custody."

He added: "The message has got to go out that people who meddle in drugs must go to prison."

Turner, of Askrigg Street, and Catchpole, of Elmcroft, both Darlington, admitted possession of Class A drugs with intent to supply on September 8 last year.

Shaun Dodds, prosecuting, told the court that police involved in the drugs operation searched Turner's home and found money and small plastic bags with the corners cut off.

Catchpole was seen leaving the house shortly before officers arrived, but colleagues later found his Peugeot car outside his home and searched the vehicle.

Mr Dodds said a total of 41.4g of cocaine with a street value of £1,600 was found in the glove compartment, wrapped inside bits of plastic that matched the bags from Turner's home.

The friends' mobile phones were also examined by experts and text messages about the supply of drugs were found, the court was told.

Nigel Soppitt, mitigating, said Turner had a £400-a-week cocaine habit at the time and was persuaded to work for his dealer to pay off debt and receive drugs.

Dan Cordey, for Catchpole, said: "This is a young man who has made a very bad mistake."

Both defence barristers said their clients came from good homes and had well-paid jobs, but had succumbed on a single occasion to store drugs for others