A GANG of drug dealers who made daily 80-mile round trips in taxis to sell cocaine and heroin to addicts in Darwen all won cuts in their jail terms today.

The four men, and the Darwen junkie they recruited to use his house as a base, all managed to convince three top judges at London's Appeal Court that their jail terms were too long.

James Bloomfield, 21, of Scarsbrick Road; Jordan Rutland, 27, of Goodison Road; John Paul Jennings, 19, of Stamforham Drive, all in Liverpool, and Graham Martin Latham, 25, of Ribbleton Lane, Preston, all admitted conspiring to supply cocaine and heroin at Preston Crown Court in November last year and were each jailed for six years and eight months.

Keith David Sharratt, 41, of Edmond Street, Darwen, agreed to let the gang use his house to deal drugs from, as well as selling some himself. He admitted the same offences and was jailed for five years.

Lord Justice Richards, who heard their sentence appeals, told the court the gang's dealing started in late January and continued until the beginning of March last year.

He said the four gang members travelled daily to Darwen, taking drugs with them to sell. They used the homes of local people in a bid to avoid detection, he said, and would either deliver the drugs on foot or by car.

All five of the men were involved in supplying drugs to users, and all claimed they were merely "foot soldiers" in a much larger organisation.

Some of the gang claimed not to have made any money from their roles in the conspiracy.

But the net eventually closed in on them, and they were all arrested, Bloomfield as he sat on the toilet trying to get rid of some drugs.

Lord Justice Richards, sitting with Mr Justice Jack and Judge Michael Findlay Baker QC, agreed with the men's lawyers that their sentences were "manifestly excessive".

"It seems to us that they were all deeply involved in the operation and implementation of the conspiracy," he told the court.

He reduced each of their jail terms by one year to five years and eight months.

Turning to Sharratt, the judge said it was right he was treated differently from the others.

"He was a local addict recruited by the others for a limited purpose and was not involved in the trip each day from Liverpool to Darwen. His criminality was less than the other four."

Lord Justice Richards reduced Sharratt's sentence to four years and three months.