THREE Ribble Valley men have admitted their part in a conspiracy to flood the streets with more than £300,000 worth of cannabis.

Preston Crown Court heard father and son duo Thomas Beard 50, and Thomas Beard junior, 28, both of Acorn Lodge Stables, Longsight Road, Clayton-le-Dale plead guilty to conspiracy to supply 113.5 kilos of cannabis at Sawley and other places between October 1 and November 16, 2011. Nigel Monk, 43, of Southport House, Sawley also admitted his part in the large-scale conspiracy.

Prosecutor Catherine Allan told the court police had recovered 454 nine-ounce bars of cannabis with a street value of £320,000.

The Class B drugs were hidden inside planters delivered by a lorry to an address in Sawley as part of a supposed consignment of “garden supplies”.

The goods had originally been despatched from Spain and came to the Ribble Valley via Scotland before they were intercepted by members of Lancashire Constabulary’s Serious and Organised Crime Unit.

The trio will now be sentenced on November 16, alongside Duncan McKee, 27, of Luggieburn Walk, Lanarkshire, and Simon McGuffie, 40, of Childwall Abbey Road, Liverpool. Thomas Beard and Thomas Beard Junior have both been remanded into custody.

Monk, who runs plant hire business from Lower White Carr Farm, in Whalley has been remanded on bail until sentencing at Preston Crown Court.