An Olympic hopeful jailed for drug dealing has been ordered to to pay back the profits which funded his lavish lifestyle.

Cyclist David Pitchford, 40, was about to climb to the very top of the sport but his dream ended when he was injured.

He turned to supplying cocaine, ecstasy and raft of other "higher end" drugs but was arrested in February last year and had his Porsche, Rolex watch, two homes and £26,000 in cash seized.

The athlete, of Gladstone Place, Brighton, was jailed for ten years for drug trafficking after police found carrying a large stash of drugs.

On Tuesday Sussex Police applied to Brighton Crown Court for a confiscation order for a further £324,147.92 to be paid within 12 months.

The court heard Pitchford had spent more than £60,000 on an American Express account and dozens of empty bottles of expensive champagne were found at his flat by police.

Pitchford was initially charged with three offences and remanded in custody. On February 16, 2006, his lock-up garage in Portland Road, Hove, was searched by police officers who found a strong box containing drugs.

The haul of class A drugs recovered by officers investigating the case was the largest in Brighton in 2006.

DC David West, from the Sussex Police Economic Crime Unit, said: "He claimed to be a recreational user of cocaine but not a chronic addict.

"Very typically, a person such as him maintained a semblance of normality and could go about his business without attracting a great deal of notice.

"He was having quite a considerable impact, inviting vulnerable individuals to engage in drug-taking."

A financial investigation was undertaken into Pitchford's bank and building society accounts, looking at his unexplained income.

Pitchford had formed his own limited company as a self-employed property developer but no trading records could be found and there had been no declarations of earnings for tax purposes in recent years.

DC West said: "The legislation to tackle career criminality is intentionally draconian. It is aimed at those persons that might previously have considered it being a worthwhile risk, to serve a period of imprisonment in the expectation that the fruits of their criminal enterprises would remain intact.

"The message is simple, in addition to vigorously prosecuting criminality. We will pursue and recover the proceeds of crime."