A HAULAGE contractor who has admitted his role in a massive drugs importation conspiracy has been ordered to forfeit nearly £20,000 seized when he was arrested.

David Scattergood, 31, proprietor of Scattergood International, based at Clayton Business Park close to the M65, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges arising out of a £19million drugs haul at Dover in June last year.

A judge at Preston Crown Court adjourned sentence to tie in with other defendants, including one from Great Harwood, who have been charged with similar offences.

But a police application for forfeiture under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 was approved by district judge Paul Firth, sitting at Blackburn Magistrates' Court.

At an earlier hearing, police revealed that a large quantity of cash was seized when Scattergood, was arrested at his home in Tockholes Road, Darwen, in March.

Officers originally estimated there was about £26,000 in 20 bundles of approximately £1,000 in a brown envelope in a cardboard box.

They were unable to count the money until it had been forensically examined but the actual sum was £19, 485.

Scattergood did not appear in court but his solicitors submitted a letter to say the seizure application was not opposed.