A DRUG user caught red handed on a Blackburn street with a £20,000 haul of cocaine has been sent to prison for four years.

Police were looking out for someone else when Anis Umarji caught their eye with his suspicious behaviour.

He had been persuaded to act as a drugs courier, in return for a quarter ounce of cocaine, Preston crown court heard.

The 25-year-old of Oozehead Lane, Blackburn, admitted possession of the Class A drug with intent to supply.

Three plain clothes officers had been on duty in the Preston New Road area of Blackburn last March when they spotted him, the court was told.

Mr Tim Brennand, prosecuting, said the defendant seemed to be acting suspiciously in the way he was clutching a jumper that had something inside.

When police took an interest, Umarji turned and fled but he was chased and caught.

Inside the jumper a total of 22 ounces of cocaine were discovered in two separate batches.

It was thought the potential street value of the drugs could have been £20,000-£22,000.

Umarji pleaded guilty to the charge, on the basis that he had not known exactly what type of drugs were in the package.

He said he was to be given £200 worth of cocaine for transporting the drugs.

Mr Philip Andrews, defending, said Umarji had originally dabbled in drugs on a recreational bausis, before his use quickly escalated to a significant habit.

He had been approached and asked to deliver the cocaine to a specified address.

Mr Andrews explained: "The defendant was unhappy about that.

He resisted such efforts at first, but was then offered payment in kind - a quarter of an ounce of cocaine.

"He foolishly succumbed to that temptation and became involved in the offence.

"It seems the police were looking for someone else, but because of the way he looked, they plainly realised there was something fishy."

The judge, Recorder Martin Walsh, told the defendant in passing sentence: "This was a particularly serious offence.

"This was not carrying drugs at a low level."