A dad-of-two was found hiding crack cocaine inside a plastic Kinder Egg chocolate container.

Adam Smullen, 28, had concealed 26 street deals in the plastic toy container when police pulled over the car he was a passenger in.

Officers also found a holdall with £175 cash and a set of digital scales.

He ran away from police and tried to dump the drugs but was caught.

He then lied three times to avoid punishment. Firstly blaming the driver of the car, then saying a Liverpool drugs gang had forced him to sell the drugs, before finally claiming the drugs were for personal use.

Smullen, of Stancliffe Road, Macclesfield, was found guilty after a trial of possession of a class A drug with intent to supply.

He was jailed up for 22 months.

Sentencing, Andrew Thomas, the recorder for Chester, said Smullen was caught red-handed with the drugs on Sunday, July 12, 2015, at 4pm, when police pulled over a car on Maple Avenue, on the Moss estate.

He said: “You were in possession of a holdall containing £175 cash, digital scales and a children’s Kinder Egg containing 26 wraps of crack cocaine.

“These were typical £10 deals with a street value of £260.

“The inescapable inference was they were ready for street supply.

“You attempted to run off and threw the drugs away. You were chased and stopped three streets away and the drugs were recovered.

“Your immediate reaction was to lie to police and blame the other man in the car. You later changed your story to claim you had been forced into selling the drugs by an unknown group of Liverpudlians. The third version was that you had bought the drugs for personal use.

“The supply of drugs causes harm to individuals, families and communities. It has been a particular problem in Macclesfield with people moving in to sell them.”

Oliver King, defending, said Smullen, a railway and highways engineer, had made a number of ‘snap decisions which were regrettable and foolish’.

He said: “He had some personal issues at the time after his partner lost a baby and was using drugs which he kept from his family. It was a debilitating addiction.”