Two drug dealers from Newham who were stopped by police twice in just nine days have been jailed for five years each.

Maidstone Crown Court heard how police were called to reports of drug dealing taking place from a silver van parked in Chatham, Kent, in November 2017.

Zamir Akram, 21, of Kent Street, Plaistow, and Waqar Nadeem, 26, of Louise Road, Stratford, were inside and searched but no drugs were found.

Just nine days later, however, concerns about the same van were reported to the force.

A police car pulled up in front of the van and Akram and Nadeem tried to drive around it, but were unable to travel far due to heavy traffic.

As they were trying to escape, a package - later found to contain 37 wraps of crack cocaine and 23 wraps of heroin with a street value of between £600 and £1,200 - was thrown out of the driver’s window.

Akram was seen in the passenger’s seat frantically pressing buttons on a mobile phone, which had a number of messages relating to drugs supply on it.

Both were charged with being concerned in the supply of heroin and crack cocaine and found guilty in December following a trial. They were sentenced on Thursday, with Akram also handed an additional two years in prison to run consecutively.

Det Con Terry Hanlon explained: “These two offenders both came to Medway from London with the sole intention of supplying heroin and crack cocaine.

“They were twice spotted by members of the public who were suspicious of their behaviour and were found with a significant quantity of Class A substances on them.”