A DARWEN haulage contractor has appeared before Blackburn magistrates charged in connection with the seizure of £19million worth of drugs.

And the magistrates gave police permission to detain £26,000 in cash found at the home of David Scattergood so that it can be forensically examined.

Scattergood, 31, of Tockholes Road, Darwen, was sent in custody to Preston Crown Court.

He is charged with conspiring with others to import heroin, cocaine and ecstasy and conspiracy to import cannabis in Dover last June.

Brian Gordon, 44, of Beresford Crescent, Stockport, was sent on bail to Preston Crown Court charged with conspiring with Scattergood and others to import the same drugs.

Both men will appear at the Crown Court on Wednesday March 26.

The police made an application under the Proceeds of Crime Act for a detention order relating to an estimated £26,000 in cash which was found at Scattergood's home when he was arrested on Wednesday morning.

A police finance investigator told the court that the bulk of the cash was in 20 bundles of approximately £1,000 in a brown envelope found in a cardboard box. The detention order allows them to keep the money for three months when a further hearing will take place.

Scattergood, married with three children, is the proprietor of Scattergood International which is based at Clayton Business Park by junction seven of the M65.

Richard Prew, defending, said his client his not wish to apply for bail until he was able to put forward sureties although he denied the allegations against him. He did not oppose the application for a cash detention order.