THE former manager of Rawtenstall's Sun Inn is facing jail after police smashed a gang which supplied drugs from the pub toilets.

Nigel Hunt, 35, of Schofield Road, Rawtenstall, was found guilty of conspiring to supply Class A drugs after a five-day trial at Preston Crown Court.

Two other men, brothers Ashraf and Raja Miah, of Schofield Close and Rostron Buildings, both Rawtenstall, pleaded guilty to the same charge at Lancaster Crown Court last week.

The three men were charged after a police raid at the pub in Bank Street, in November, when a quantity of powdered ecstasy, ecstasy tablets and cocaine was recovered.

The raid, codenamed Operation Zeus, was part of Lancashire Constabulary's Operation Nimrod, which has seen 500 people arrested since it was set up 18 months ago.

Forty officers from the major crime unit, support officers, dog patrols and CID officers took part in the raid on the the Sun Inn.

Police said that with the help of a police sniffer dog, they seized tablets believed to be Class A drugs, white powder, cannabis, and a shoe box containing cash.

DS Steve Kidd, of Lancashire Police's major crime unit, said Hunt and the Miahs had organised supply of Class A drugs from the pub toilets for at least several months before the raids.

Several undercover officers working as part of Operation Nimrod were sold drugs during June and July last year.

DS Kidd said: "Operation Nimrod is all about taking the fight against illegal drugs to people who think they are above the law, like Nigel Hunt and the Miahs."

The three men are all remanded in custody and will appear at Preston Crown Court for sentence on Friday, June 18.