THE former manager of a Rawtenstall pub has been jailed for five-and-a-half years after police smashed a gang which supplied drugs from the premises.

Nigel Hunt, 35, of Rosewood Avenue, Haslingden, who ran the Sun Inn, was sentenced at Preston Crown court yesterday.

He was found guilty by a jury last week of conspiring to supply class A drugs.

Brothers Ashraf and Rija Miah, charged with the same offence, were also jailed by Judge Andew Gilbart for their part in the drugs trafficking offences.

Ashraf Miah, 20, of Schofield Close, Rawtenstall, was sentenced to a total of six years. Rija Miah, 23, of Cape Street, Rawtenstall, was given three years and three months.

Speaking after the case yesterday, police said the incident unfolded on November 20 last year when officers smashed a 15ft window at the Sun Inn, Bank Street, as part of the operation.

The pub was raided after undercover officers were sold drugs from the toilets during June and July last year.

Police recovered large quantities of powdered ecstasy - known on the streets as 'murder' - ecstasy tablets, cocaine and cannabis during the raids at the the home addresses and the pub.

Officers from the major crime unit and Pennine division - including support unit officers dog patrols, CID and geographic staff - took part in the operation in support of the force's Operation Nimrod.

Detective Sergeant Lee Halstead, of the major crime unit based in Preston, said: "This operation was a direct response to community based intelligence and concerns.

"It is a shining example of Lancashire Constabulary's commitment to combating street-level drugs trafficking. It shows people like Hunt and the Miahs, who think they are above the law, that we are making a continual endeavour to fight again illegal drugs.

"They were not only supplying in Rossendale but admitted during interview to going to Preston and other places. Drug supply in East Lancashire will have been dramatically reduced thanks to today's result."