Two women played a part in a major conspiracy to distribute drugs smuggled across the Channel, a court heard.

Elizabeth Harkins assisted her husband John in delivering amphetamine to couriers and Jemma Fosbaey stored some of the drug in her freezer, it was alleged.

John Harkins, his brother Bill, of Melbourne Avenue, Dover, Paul Grassi and Paul Last have been jailed in France for trafficking after they were caught with 25 kilos of amphetamine in Calais in May last year.

Elizabeth Harkins, of Batteries Close, Lynsted, and Fosbaey, of The Crescent, Barrow Green, Teynham, deny conspiracy to supply amphetamine.

Ian Pullen, of Battersea, South West London, has admitted the charge.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the value of the drug seized in France was between £40,000 and £250,000, depending on the purity.

Allister Walker, prosecuting, said Pullen, 41, had an organisational role in the conspiracy.

"He was at the top of the chain in this little organisation," he said.

Mr Walker said Pullen regularly met with John Harkins and his 45-year-old wife. A BMW car and a Volkswagen car were registered in her name.

Mrs Harkins was present at meetings between her husband and Pullen, then living in Dagenham, Essex. She would pass drugs onto a courier.

"She was close to the heart of the conspiracy and in a position to know, and must have known, the extent of the group's ambition," said the prosecutor.

Fosbaey was a former neighbour of the couple in Batteries Close.

"Her role was custodian of the drugs," said Mr Walker. "When asked to store amphetamine at her home, she agreed.

"The drugs were available for collection by Elizabeth Harkins at any time. Two kilogrammes of amphetamine were discovered in her freezer when arrested soon after the French operation."

Mr Walker said when police went to Fosbaey's home on May 31 last year she was shaking and nervous. She showed officers the amphetamine in the freezer.

Elizabeth Harkins, when arrested, denied supplying drugs and asking Fosbaey to store them in her freezer.

Mr Walker said the prosecution case was that Harkins and Fosbaey played a modest, but significant, role in the scheme to supply amphetamine or speed.