TWO drug dealers caught peddling heroin and crack cocaine from a Bournemouth hotel room have been jailed.

Thomas Michal Joseph Peers and Joseph Mercer, both from Liverpool were sent to prison for three years and 30 months respecitvely.

Peers, 29 of Childwall Lane appeared at Bournemouth Crown Court on Friday March 12 and was sentenced to three years in prison after admitting two offences of possessing class A drugs with intent to supply.

Mercer, 25, of Daisy Lane, Liverpool, had pleaded guilty to the same charges at an earlier hearing at the same court and was sentenced on Wednesday October 21 to 30 months in prison.

At around 11.20am on Thursday January 19 2017 Dorset Police received a report that a suspicious white powder had been seen in a room at a hotel in Grove Road and that the smell of cannabis had been detected from the same room.

An officer attended but Peers, who had been staying in the room, had already packed up and left.

Following enquiries by officers, his car was located in the car park of another hotel nearby later the same day.

Officers were given access to his room. Peers and Mercer were inside and nearly 100 wraps of suspected class A drugs were seized. Officers also found around £1,000 in cash, several mobile phones and weighing scales in the room.

The wraps were analysed and found to contain heroin and crack cocaine.

Both defendants were charged and first appeared in court in May 2018.

Police Constable Stuart Grant, of the Bournemouth South Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: "These defendants came down to Bournemouth for the purpose of supplying class A drugs and we want to send a clear message that we will take action against those who attempt to deal illegal drugs in our communities.

"Thanks to the information we received and our subsequent enquiries, we were able to catch these men in possession of a significant amount of class A drugs and bring them before the court to face justice.

"I would urge anyone with information about suspected drug-related activity to contact us at dorset.police.uk, via email 101@dorset.pnn.police.uk or by calling 101.