A drug dealer stashed nearly £70,000 worth of crack cocaine and heroin in his wardrobe, a court has heard.

Ian Rose, 33, from Woodmill Lane, Bitterne, Southampton, was arrested when police pulled over his car and discovered a wrap of crack cocaine.

Winchester Crown Court heard that officers later searched his house and found the huge stash of Class A drugs hidden in a rucksack in his bedroom.

There was a total of 166 grams of crack cocaine – valued at almost £40,000 – and 236 grams of heroin, valued at £28,300.

Prosecutor Gavin Sumpter said drugs paraphernalia such as scales and clingfilm was also found around the property.

More than £3,700 in cash was discovered hidden in a cardboard box and an ice cream tub, the court heard.

Rose pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply the heroin and crack cocaine, along with possession of criminal property.

Richard Griffiths, defending, said that Rose was not at the top of the pyramid when it came to drug dealing.

He added: “He’d been dealing directly for about a year or so; he got into it because he owed money to dealers himself.

“He’s not the one who holds the profit – it goes up the chain and he keeps enough to fund his own habit. He is a street-level dealer. There is no evidence of an operational or organisational role.”

Rose was arrested as part of Hampshire Police’s Operation Fortress – a major police crackdown on drug dealing in Southampton.

Judge Keith Cutler said he believed Rose played a “significant role” in supplying Class A drugs across a wide area.

He said: “In my opinion you were on the scale of a regional supplier – not just street supply, but also supply over quite a geographically large area, including supplying other suppliers.”

Rose was jailed for a total of five years for the offences.