THREE men have been handed year-long community orders and told to complete 180 hours of unpaid work after being caught in a car with more than £1,000-worth of cannabis.

Simon Spear, of Garden Village, Micklefield; Oliver Chard, of High Trees Court, Sherburn-in-Elmet; and Billy Mason, of Victoria Grove, Leeds, all admitted buying the 138g of cannabis in August 2012. They were caught just after collecting the drugs when their car was stopped by police near Sherburn-in-Elmet.

The drugs were thrown out of the car but later recovered. Spear, 28, and Chard, 32, were arrested nearby, and police caught Mason, 30, later. The three pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis with intent to supply at York Crown Court yesterday, but prosecutors accepted their explanation that the drugs – valued at £1,380 – were to be shared between them and were not going to be sold for financial gain.