A county lines drug dealer was caught on the A11 near Norwich after he attracted police attention by being in a car which had been reported as stolen, a court heard.

Carlos Nunes, 25, was a passenger in a Citroen hire car which was stopped near the Thickthorn roundabout after it had been reported as stolen by the vehicle hire company, Norwich Crown Court heard.

Chris Youell said that police stopped the car after the registration flagged up that it was stolen and when officers searched the vehicle a bag containing 301 wraps of crack cocaine with a street value of £3,000 was found in the car, in which Nunes was a rear seat passenger.

Mr Youell said: 'It was not the wisest thing to have used a car that was reported stolen if you are couriering drugs.'

He said the DNA of Nunes was found on one of the bags containing the drugs and said there was also a small amount of cannabis found which Nunes said was for his own use.

Nunes, from London, admitted possession of crack cocaine with intent to supply on March 12 and was jailed for 40 months.

The court heard that Nunes had only recently been released from a sentence for drug dealing when he committed this latest offence as he had been put under pressure to repay debt.

Jailing him for 40 months, Judge Stephen Holt said it was a county lines operation with him bringing drugs from London to sell in Norwich but because the car had been stolen it was stopped by police.

Judge Holt said: 'Rather stupidly the car had been stolen.'

He warned Nunes that this was now his second conviction for dealing drugs and said the sentences would only get longer.

'If you are before the court for Class A supply again the minimum sentence is one of seven years, Think about that. That is a long time,' he said.

Andrew Oliver, for Nunes, said that after his release from jail for drug dealing he had been doing well and had got a job but then was moved back to live in Hackney where pressure was put on him.

'The dealer network caught up with him. He needed to pay off a debt and make a drugs run up to Norwich,' Mr Oliver said.

He said that Nunes had since been recalled to prison but that he was determined not to come before the court again.