A 25-year-old man from Liverpool has been jailed for drugs offences after being stopped by police in Congleton.

Shaun Gargan from Pencombe Road, Huyton pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs (cocaine and heroin) and money laundering at an earlier hearing. He appeared at Chester Crown Court on 10 July and was sentenced to four years in jail.

At 9.40pm on Tuesday 11 June two officers from Cheshire Constabulary's Roads and Crime team were on patrol in Congleton.

They saw two men exiting a side street off West Street and walk off. Their manner led them to suspect they had bought drugs. Then two further men came of the same side street acting suspiciously.

One of the officers stopped to speak to the men, and one of these men - Gargan - fled along West Street. The officer gave chase and Gargan dropped a smartphone on the pavement as he ran.

The officer then managed to detain Gargan and searched him. He discovered cash and drugs in a pocket of his coat. The coat contained £1,108 in cash and a number of bags containing Class A drugs.

He was immediately arrested and taken into custody. Macclesfield Pro Active CID then took over the reigns and interviewed Gargan, gathered the evidence and prepared the file for CPS to authorise the charges that would put Gargan before the courts for his crimes.

A drugs expert said the 176 individual deals of crack cocaine and half an ounce of crack cocaine had the potential estimated street evaluation of £2,360 to £3,310. The 73 individual deals of heroin and half an ounce of heroin had a potential estimated street valuation of between £1,130 and £1,730.

Superintendent Saf Ali said: "Our eagle-eyed officers are out there 24/7 patrolling the communities of Cheshire and proactively targeting people suspected of illegal activity.

"Our experienced officers know what to look out for and are ever determined to root out those intent on committing crime and swiftly take them off our streets.

"Gargan is another example of our proactive commitment to making Cheshire a no-go area for criminals."