POLICE found £1,000 worth of a hallucinagenic drug in a rucksack when they searched a Kidderminster house, Worcester Crown Court was told.

Benjamin Jones told them he had been pressurised to look after the drug, which is used by vets, said Mr Gareth Walters, prosecuting.

Jones, 19, who had been staying with his parents in Stretton Road, pleaded guilty to possessing a class C drug on November 1 last year. He was given a 12-month community order which requires him to do 150 hours unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £250 court costs.

Mr Walters said Jones first thought it was a class A drug. He put it in his bedroom and forgot about it until police called about an unrelated matter.

Mr Tim Sapwell, defending, said Jones had no previous convictions and had been asked to keep the drug following an "unwise association".

The owner of the drug had been annoyed when he realised it had been seized by police and had been making threats asking for payment. The police had been informed.

Jones now had a steady job helping to make foundations for mobile homes.