A HAMPSHIRE man who made a hoax bomb threat to a hotel is behind bars.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Luke Cartwright sparked a major police search after he called The Manor at Sway and told the manager that there was a bomb in the hotel.

Officers and specialists dog units descended on the scene and carried out a three-hour search of the property but nothing was found.

Police later traced the called to 24-year-old Cartwright, of Park Road, Ashley, who admitted calling in the bomb hoax.

His defence barrister James Newton told the court that Cartwright had been taking cannabis and amphetamines around the time of the hoax.

Judge Peter Ralls QC jailed Cartwright for nine months.