PLAIN-clothes policemen found a drug stash inside a car after arresting the driver in Worcester.

Emmanuel Vella claimed the 506g of cannabis were for his own consumption over a five-month period.

A jury at Hereford Crown Court cleared him of possession with intent to supply at an earlier hearing. But he admitted possession of the drugs.

Vella, aged 33, of Walnut Avenue, Brickfields, Worcester, was fined £500 at Worcester Crown Court yesterday.

Prosecutor Andrew Lockhart said the officers spotted four men standing around a car in Wheelwright Close on Monday, October 1, last year.

They smelled cannabis smoke and after Vella got out they found the drugs under the passenger seat in a bin liner.

He maintained that he smoked an ounce a week and had bought the drugs in bulk in Birmingham.

Anthony Warner, defending, said he had been out of trouble for 10 years. He was employed in the motor industry, had a wife and family and took home £400 a week.

Judge David McEvoy QC told Vella it was time he gave up cannabis. The defendant replied from the dock that he had quit the drug.