A BRIERLEY Hill man has been jailed for his part in supplying drugs in a county lines operation into Hereford.

Taylor Warr, aged 22, of Sheriff Drive, has been sentenced to four years and 10 months for being concerned in the supply of cocaine, possession with intent to supply a Class B controlled drug – cannabis - and acquiring/using/possessing criminal property.

He was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on Thursday March 28, along with Andrew Pritchard, aged 37, of Ridgemoor Road, Leominster, who was given a five-year prison term for two counts of possession with intent to supply class A drugs - cocaine, and two counts of acquiring/using/possessing criminal property.

‘County lines’ is the name given to the process and operation of drugs being transported from predominately larger urban areas to smaller towns, often in rural areas, with the ‘line’ referring to the mobile number used to order the drugs.

Warr and Pritchard had been running the county line named ‘Terry’ that was used to supply class drugs into Leominster, Hereford, police said.

Detective Constable Kyle Hopkins, of West Mercia Police, said of the case: “This was a detailed and complex investigation involving high level offending spread across a number of police forces, Warr and Pritchard were responsible for trafficking drugs into the local community.

“The misery of drugs is well-known, and it devastates lives on a daily basis, I welcome these sentences as a demonstration of the severity of the offences.

“West Mercia Police will relentlessly pursue those who traffic drugs, regardless of where they operate, and will always seek to prosecute those who cause harm to the local community.”