A BURNLEY man with an "appalling" criminal record was found in possession of more than a hundred bags of cannabis in a car.

But Martin Rickwood who has 33 previous convictions - avoided jail after convincing a court the drugs were for his own use.

Police searched Rickwood and a VW Passat vehicle he had been driving after suspicions were raised at a retail park.

The drugs would have had a street value of between £110 and £327, Preston Crown Court heard.

Rickwood, 23, of Kinross Street, Burnley, appeared for sentence, having pleaded guilty to charges of possessing cannabis resin and cannabis bush.

The court heard police were called to the Deepdale Retail Park, Preston, in May last year following store staff concerns that the defendant was behaving suspiciously.

When searched by police, car keys were found on him. He had earlier been spotted driving a Passat car.

The vehicle was searched and found to contain cannabis resin and cannabis bush. In total there were 123 bags of drugs in clingf ilm packages or snap seal bags.

They were for his own personal use, he claimed.

Rickwood had previous convictions that included drug possessing and cultivating cannabis.

Mark Stuart, defending, said the defendant had admitted straight away that the drugs were for his own use.

Judge Philip Sycamore imposed a community order for six months supervision.

He said Rickwood had an appalling record, with 33 offences and some offences involving prohibited drugs.

He added: "You don't seem to learn your lesson about the view the courts take about possessing drugs.

"There will come a point where these courts will say that custody is going to be the only way of dealing with you, if you continue to ignore the community sentences imposed upon you."