TWO drugs dealers who were arrested when they tried to sell £30,000 of crack cocaine to an undercover detective in Blackburn Boulevard have been jailed for a total of 13 years.

Jack Costello, 28, of no fixed address, was sentenced to nine years at Preston Crown Court after pleading guilty to two counts of supplying the drug. Paul Taylor, a 33-year-old father-of-two, of Anchor Drive, Darwen, pleaded guilty to a similar charge and was jailed for four years.

Costello, who had been living in Darwen, was contacted by an undercover policeman and agreed to supply him with an ounce of crack cocaine with a street value of around £10,000 at the Reebok Stadium, the home of Bolton Wanderers, on December 15 last year.

A week later a second deal was set up and Costello arranged to meet the undercover officer outside Blackburn railway station, on The Boulevard.

After the case, Det Insp Peter Tracy, who led the operation, said: "The arrest of these two men protected the community from the devastation and misery which the drugs they were involved in supplying would have brought.

"These men were not alone in the evil trade they were taking part in and we will no turn our attention to bringing others like them to justice."

Police said they believed the drugs had been supplied through links with organised crime in Manchester but said they could find no trace of the money they believed Costello had made from his illicit trade.

The men were caught as a result of an operation mounted by Lancashire police's major crime unit.

Louise Blackwell, prosecuting, told the court that Taylor agreed to act as a driver and was paid £300 but later claimed he thought Costello was dealing in cannabis.

The court heard that Costello was driven to an address in Mill Hill, Blackburn, where he picked up crack cocaine valued at more than £30,000. Taylor's car was searched and scales which had traces of drugs on them were recovered, along with several thousand pounds in cash.

Judge John Townend told the two men: "The law lays down serious penalties for drug dealers for two reasons. "The first is that drug users always have to resort to some sort of criminal activity to finance their drug use. The other is that at the other end of the scale those in involved in wider drug dealing are often involved in serious criminal activities.

''It is obvious Mr Costello was dealing in significant quantities of drug. No one is suggesting you are Mr Big. The Mr Bigs do not usually appear in court but you are still someone who is at the higher end of the drugs dealing scale."