A drug dealer smelled so strongly of cannabis as he shopped at a discount designer store that staff became suspicious and called the police, a court heard.

Officers went to TK Maxx in St Peter’s Street, Maidstone, and Myles Brooks was arrested after a brief struggle.

They seized a plastic bag from his hand which was found to contain crack cocaine and heroin divided into 41 drug deals.

His arrest in February last year came just four months after he was released from a four-and-a-half year prison sentence for a similar offence.

Now, he has been jailed for three-and-a-half years after admitting possessing the drugs with intent to supply and possessing cannabis.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the drugs had a street value of £875. The crack cocaine had an unusually high purity of 75 per cent.

Brooks, 31, of no fixed address, also had three wraps of cannabis and £530 cash on him.

Philip Sinclair, defending, said Brooks “fell into old ways” of street-dealing after his release as he could not find a job.

Judge Martin Joy told Brooks: "Class A drugs are an extremely dangerous commodity. They undermine law and order, they undermine society, and they undermine individuals.

"Drugs are a filthy, degrading habit and it has to be stamped on by the courts."