A DRUG dealer caught with nearly £1,000 of cannabis who claimed it was for 'personal use' has been spared jail.

Thames Valley Police first raided the then home of Ryan Williams, who is now of Dashwood Road, Banbury, on August 13 last year.

They discovered a haul of drugs made up of nine bags of herbal cannabis totalling 84.45g of the class B drug, carrying an estimated street value of roughly £910.

Police also found at the Banbury address a wallet containing £510 in cash as well as drug paraphernalia including sealing bags and a set of scales.

The 22-year old, Oxford Crown Court heard at his sentencing for possessing the class B drugs with intent to supply on Thursday, had first claimed the stash was for 'personal use'. At Oxford Magistrates' Court he denied the charge but later admitted his guilt ahead of his looming trial.

Since the offence he had also appeared before the same court on a separate charge of possessing a class A drug for which he was given a suspended sentence in June this year.

In mitigation, Graham Bennett said that his client had suffered from a growing drugs habit since his teenage years and that he had set up the commercial operation to fund his addiction.

Sparing Williams an immediate jail term Judge Maria Lamb took the extraordinary step of imposing a community order to include work 'at an allotment'.

Addressing Williams she said: "You know you can go to prison. I am not going to send you to prison today though I could have done.

"I want to see if you can sort things out with people helping you."

Williams was given a 12-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months to include a community order requiring 75 hours of unpaid work at an allotment 'if possible' and 25 days of rehabilitation activity requirement.

The drugs and paraphernalia was also forfeited and destroyed while the cash was seized and he must pay a statutory victim surcharge.