DRUG user Raymond Beale funded his expensive habit by playing pool for money, town magistrates were told.

The 22-year-old was found with nearly £1,300 worth of illegal drugs and claimed he earned an average of £260 a week from wagers on the green baize.

But when Beale was ordered to pay £118 towards prosecution costs before walking free from court he said he could only pay at £10 a week.

At an earlier hearing Beale pleaded guilty to charges of possessing class A and class B drugs and cultivating cannabis.

Sentencing him to 120 hours' community service, magistrates said they were not jailing him because he had no previous convictions and had changed his ways. They ordered that the drugs be destroyed.

Rhys Davies, prosecuting, told magistrates that police with a warrant to search for drugs raided his flat at Hatherleigh Court, Park North, on the morning of May 18.

When officers asked him if he had any illegal substances, Beale produced a bag of 53 ecstasy tablets from his trouser pocket and another with four more in it from his shirt pocket.

During the search, police found 24 cannabis plants which were growing in pots and seed trays in the airing cupboard.

They also found pieces of cannabis resin, including a lump weighing about 6oz in the bedroom and a further half an ounce on the coffee table in the living room.

Beale was arrested and admitted possession of all the drugs, telling officers they were all for his own use. He claimed he often took four ecstasy tablets a day and could consume as many as ten over a weekend.

He said he had bought a bulk consignment of 60 tablets because it was better value, but only carried a small number at any one time.

Mr Davies said: "He said he financed his drug use by playing pool for money he said he made an average of £260 a week and gave names of people he had played with."

He said the cannabis had a street value of about £718 and the ecstasy was worth £570.

Con Fernandes, defending, said his client had turned his life around and "very much regrets what he did".

He said Beale earned £165 a week and had to pay £53 rent and £40 on food. He said he also had a £1,900 debt to a bank which was expected to be settled with a repayment plan at the county court.