A YORK man whose house was "a one stop shop for class A and class B drugs", has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Lee Mathew Thomas admitted possession with intent to supply cocaine and cultivation of a class B drug at York Crown Court on Friday.

The court heard Thomas, 30, rented a property in Village Street, Rawcliffe, last June, but the landlord called in a contractor after noticing a number of roof tiles were missing in August.

The contractor showed the landlord a grow of 13 cannabis plants in the loft of the building, visible through the roof, police were called to the scene.

A search of the property also found 17 small plastic bags and a CD case containing a total of just over five grams of white powder, which later proved to be cocaine.

Thomas was arrested, telling officers "I won't lie to you about anything, I'll tell you what you need to know", and later said he had racked up a drug debt of £500 which had risen to £4,000 with interest and he had agreed to let his dealers use the premises to grow cannabis.

Thomas maintained the cocaine was for his own personal use, and he had used it more frequently since he was banned from driving last year, but stopped using the class A drug in October.

Alex Williams, for Thomas, said his client had been forced to allow the illegal activities to take place at the property, and was afraid of the consequences of refusing the drug suppliers.

However, Judge Andrew Stubbs QC said he was not convinced of Thomas' fear, after messages from a Samsung phone found by police at the house suggested he was "anything but intimidated".

One message read: "P*** me off again and I'll torch the ****ing lot."

Judge Stubbs told the court "it seems to me he [THOMAS] is effectively a one stop shop for Class A and Class B drug supply", and told Thomas while he accepted there were others above him in the drug trade, "I am satisfied you played a significant role"

Thomas was sentenced to 28 months for possession of class A drugs with intent to supply, and two months for production of cannabis, to be served consecutively.