A 32-YEAR-OLD man arrested when hoping to catch a ferry to Ireland confessed to police that the red balloon down his trousers contained drugs.

Cocaine worth £5,500 was found when Ross Nancarrow, of Raynes Park, London, was arrested at Holyhead last January.

On Monday, he pleaded guilty at Caernarfon Crown Court to having the drug with intent to supply and to possessing cannabis and was jailed for three years.

Prosecutor David Mainstone said Nancarrow was intending to supply them in Ireland.

Andrew Hill, defending, said he had taken an Open University course in psychology. He'd worked for a family construction firm, including at Buckingham Palace.

Judge Huw Rees urged Nancarrow to concentrate on family responsibilities "rather than the murky world of drugs."