Two drug dealers have been jailed for ten years each for their part in a crack cocaine ring.

Judge David Rennie said he hoped the tough sentences would send out a clear message to any other dealers who "snuff out young lives".

Henry McFarlane and Orren Fraser used two flats in Crossbush Way, Whitehawk, Brighton, as the base for their operation. They lived in one and used the other as a high-security store for drugs.

Police raided both flats on December 13 last year and found heroin and crack with a street value of more than £45,000.

Mobile phones and thousands of pounds in cash were also seized.

Jamaican-born McFarlane, 45, told police he had no idea how the drugs had got into the flat. Fraser, 36, refused to answer any questions.

Both men denied two charges of possessing Class A drugs with intent to supply during a two-week trial at Hove Crown Court.

Judge Rennie said: "The police interrupted what I am sure was a well-organised and well-funded gang of heroin and crack dealers. There is a problem in places such as Brighton with heroin and crack dealers homing in for rich pickings.

"Class A drugs change young lives and sometimes snuff them out altogether. People like you could not care less about the damaged lives you leave behind."

The court heard both men had previous drugs convictions.

Fraser has already been deported back to Jamaica after serving most of a five year sentence for trying to smuggle cocaine.

McFarlane was jailed for four years in 1998 for possession of crack with intent to supply.

Detective Constable Derek Flint, who led the investigation, said: "It's days like today which make it all worthwhile and it puts the dealers on notice that the police and the courts will pursue them tirelessly.

"There have been a large number of deaths of young people from heroin overdoses, a problem highlighted by the coroner.

"A substantial amount of drugs and an organised gang of dealers have been removed from the streets as a result of this investigation."