A football fan has been banned from attending matches for three years after being found with cocaine while heading to a game with his child.

Kent Police ran an operation outside Gillingham Football Club’s Priestfield stadium during the team’s FA Cup fixture with Charlton Athletic on December 2 last year.

Shortly before kick-off, a man, who had travelled to the game with his child and a friend, came to the attention of police dog Dougal – one of a number of drug detection dogs at the ground.

After being detained for a search, the 31-year-old, from Chatham, was spotted dropping a small packet of white powder.

He was arrested and charged with being in possession of a class A drug.

The man told officers he was not intending to take the cocaine into the ground and that he had forgotten it had been in his pocket for several weeks.

Yet he pleaded guilty at Medway Magistrates’ Court on January 17 to the offence and received an 18-month conditional discharge.

He was also given a football banning order (FBO) preventing him from attending any regulated game for the next three years.

However, his identity is not being revealed. A police spokesman said they had “chosen not to name the offender on this occasion.”

Chief Inspector Alan Rogers, of Kent Police’s Tactical Operations Command, said: “Gillingham FC and other football clubs across Kent are committed to making the matchday experience as family-friendly as possible.

“One of the ways they do so is by making their stadium a no-go area for drug users.

“We are fully supportive of their efforts to help tackle the possession of illegal substances and we look forward to holding similar operations at Priestfield in the future.

“Anyone planning on taking drugs to a football match should take this outcome as a warning that it could be the last they attend for a number of years.”

It comes less than four months after an 18-year-old was also banned from attending Gillingham matches for three years.

Jake Harling pleaded guilty at Medway Magistrates’ Court on December 6 to a public order offence, being drunk at a sporting event and being in possession of a class A drug.