A NIGHT club owner has praised his doormen after they found seven bags of cocaine and another containing cannabis on a man trying to enter the premises.

The security staff at Level One nightclub in Market Street, Darwen, detained Ryan Richard Renaghan when they suspected him of him of possessing drugs.

He was taken to a room where he could be searched where he handed over the bag containing 2.45 grams of cannabis.

The seven bags of cocaine, containing a total of 1.66 grams of the drug, were found in his pocket.

On Thursday Blackburn magistrates fined Renaghan, 25, of Clarendon Road East, Blackburn, £200 and ordered him to pay £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

Leon Kelly, the owner of Level One, said: “This is a credit to our door staff.

“They are trained, experienced and vigilant.

“We search everyone coming into the club for drugs and blades and if we find a significant amount of drugs, we call the police.

“This is the modern world and I have to protect my licence and my customers. Level One has a zero-tolerance policy on drugs.

“Anyone who tries to enter with them is barred.”

Blackburn magistrates heard there was no evidence Ryan Richard Renaghan had any intention of supplying drugs.

Renaghan pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and cocaine.

He was fined £200 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £30 victim surcharge.

Andy Robinson, prosecuting, said: “There are no drug offences on his record and no evidence he had any intention of supplying drugs.”

Gareth Price, defending, said the charges dated back to October 2017 and there was no explanation for why it had taken so long for the matters to come to court.

He said: “The person who stands before you today is very different to the person who was in that nightclub.

“He had personal difficulties and was at a very low ebb. He was using drugs and alcohol to try and get him through that time.”

Mr Price said since then Renaghan had put himself through college and got a job.

He added: “He is in a stable relationship and is due to become a father for the first time in the near future.

“He has worked hard to turn his life around.”