A DRUG dealer who was caught near an Oxford nursery with £1,000 worth of drugs he was selling to addicts has been jailed.

Ryan Hursey, of no fixed abode, appeared at Oxford Crown Court via videolink from HMP Bullingdon to be sentenced on Tuesday.

He had already admitted the single count of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs – crack cocaine – at an earlier hearing.

The 24-year old, the court heard, was spotted by plain clothes police officers who were patrolling the area near to the Grandpont Nursery School, Whitehouse Road, Oxford, on the afternoon of October 19.

Known drug users were first seen walking away from an alleyway which was situated between the railway tracks and the nursery school at about 1.30pm.

Officers then saw Hursey emerge talking on his mobile phone, when they became suspicious and approached him before carrying out a search.

They initially only discovered three deal bags of crack cocaine but on a more thorough strip search, the court heard, they uncovered a haul including 51 deal bags of the drug.

Julian Lynch, prosecuting, said that the stash of the banned substance he was carrying had an estimated street value of roughly £740.

Police also found a further 26 wraps of heroin on his person, valued at roughly £260.

He was not formally charged for possessing the heroin and he later pleaded guilty to the single count of possession with intent to supply the cocaine.

During the search on Hursey officers also found £105 cash in notes and £19.61 in coins.

Not represented by a defence barrister for the sentencing, Hursey was asked by Judge Zoe Smith if he wanted to say anything in his defence, to which he offered no reply.

Sentencing, Judge Smith said: "This court sees on a daily basis people whose lives are literally ruined by drugs.

"You really should not have got yourself involved with this awful trade."

He was jailed for a total of 32 months and must pay a statutory victim surcharge.

The cash seized was also forfeited, and the drugs will be destroyed.