A TEENAGER was ordered to steal to repay the money he owed to a Blackburn drug dealer a court was told.

Marc Gregson, 19, of Churchill Court, Layton, Blackpool, admitted theft of £109 worth of cosmetics from the resort's Superdrug store.

He was sentenced to a 12 months rehabilitation order with a condition to abstain from using Class A drugs. He was also ordered to pay £60 costs by Blackpool magistrates.

Prosecutor, Jane Yates, said that when interviewed by police Gregson told officers he had been picked up by a drug dealer. Gregson was told he owed money and must repay it at any cost.

Howard Green, defending, said his client had recently moved from the Blackburn area, where he had acquired a bad drug habit.

The defence added: "He was physically taken to the store and told to go and steal to repay this debt."