Three men who supplied an estimated £500,000 of heroin and crack cocaine to addicts in Chatham over seven months have been put behind bars for a total of almost 20 years.

Alan Downes, 36, of Sturla Road, Chatham, and Craig Ethridge, 24, of Canterbury Street, Gillingham, headed the large-scale commercial enterprise while 19-year-old Zac Wallace, of Thorold Road, Chatham, acted as a runner.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that up to 60 deals a day were made over a 211-day period between October 2008 and April 29 this year.

Heroin was sold in 0.2g wraps for £10, and crack cocaine, again in 0.2g wraps, for £20.

Judge Martin Joy said the seven-month period may have shown just a "snap-shot" of the conspirators' dealings.

Jailing Downes and Ethridge (left) for eight years each, and sentencing Wallace to a young offenders' institution for three-and-a-half years, he remarked: "This was a well-organised and systematic activity; a large-scale conspiracy to supply these drugs.

"The average turnover appears to have been very high. The Crown say half a million. However, I accept that the estimate may be far too high. But on any view this was an extensive conspiracy and there must have been a high turnover.

"It may be impossible to know how many deals or the total weight of the drugs ultimately supplied, but this was an extensive amount and there was activity going on for all those months."

There were gasps and tears from the public gallery when Judge Joy passed sentence. He warned, however, that those who involved themselves in an "utterly degrading trade" could only expect severe punishment.

Downes, Ethridge and Wallace have each already served 235 days on remand.

Prosecutor Priyadarshani Khanna told the court that the gang's turnover had been estimated by using very conservative figures based on the number of calls made to mobile telephones.

However, she added the figure of half a million was still "very contentious", and Philip McGhee, defending Downes, argued that it was, in fact, "hotly disputed" and closer to £250,000.

Downes (right), Ethridge and Wallace (below) all admitted consiracy to supply class A drugs.

Downes also admitted two charges of possessing cannabis and one of possessing a prohibited weapon - a stungun - which was found during a police search of his home.

He was sentenced to six months for the cannabis offences and 18 months for the stungun offence - all to run concurrent to the eight-year jail term.