A FORMER drug addict was caught on his way to deliver thousands of pounds worth of cannabis to a house in Oswestry.

A package containing the drugs - with an estimated value of up to £4,000 - was recovered from a Mercedes van when it was stopped by police.r

Van driver Danny Tandy, 53, was said to have been involved in the regular supply of cannabis into the Oswestry area.

At Shrewsbury Crown Court Tandy was given an eight month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.

Tandy, of Swinburn Place, Rotherham, who had admitted a charge of supplying cannabis, was also ordered to complete 180 hours unpaid work.

The court heard that in January last year police were aware of a drugs drop intended for a property in Blenheim Close, Oswestry.

Mr Phillip Beardwell, prosecuting, said the Mercedes van was stopped on the A5 on January 28 at Nesscliffe.

He said Tandy was under the influence of drugs and officers found a package of cannabis in the van worth between £2,500 and £4,000.

Transactions on Tandy's phone, running into the thousands, were related to drug drops in the Rotherham and Oswestry areas.

Mr Beardwell said that phone and bank records showed the defendant had made numerous visits to the Oswestry address.

He said that Tandy had not just played the role of a courier, but had a significant role in moving drugs into the Shropshire town.

Mr Ranjit Sandhu, for Tandy, said his client had been a class A drug user for 25 years, but had been clean since 2012.

He said Tandy, who now works as a suspended ceiling fitter, had been acting under duress to pay off outstanding drug debts.

Mr Sandhu said it was stupidity and a lack of thinking on his client's part.