A drug smuggler tried to get crack cocaine into a prison by wrapping 'rocks' of the deadly drug in socks and hurling them over the walls.

The man was spotted throwing items over the walls of Lewes prison by sharp-eyed PCSOs Andy and Alan Ash.

The pair, who are brothers, were on patrol near the prison when they stopped the man and found two socks containing a total of 15 of the £20 rocks.

Crooks go to great length to smuggle illegal drugs into prisons as drugs are valuable currency behind bars, often changing hands between inmates for several times their street value.

A man was arrested at the scene by police officers on suspicion of supplying drugs and was later released on bail.

Inspector Viv Johnson said: "We planned our patrols to target the prison as we have had reports of this happening before. I am delighted that in this instance we managed to stop these drugs getting into the hands of the prison population.

"The PCSOs we have in the Lewes district are top notch and they really earn their money. Andy and Alan did a great job and we reaped the rewards with this arrest."

The Government told The Argus it was doing everything possible to stamp out drug taking, which the Prison Reform Trust has described as "endemic" in the country's jails.

Home Office figures show one in seven inmates tested positive for drugs at the Category B prison - which houses murderers, rapists and drug dealers.

A total of 270 prisoners were tested for illegal substances at Lewes prison in the ten months to January this year. Of those, 43 tested positive, a failure rate of 16 per cent - way above Government targets of below 10.3 per cent.

Crack is a form of cocaine made into small lumps or rocks and usually smoked in a pipe, glass tube, plastic bottle or in foil. It is more addictive and dangerous than powdered cocaine, and users can die of an overdose.

A Prison Service spokeswoman said: "We do all that we can to keep drugs out of prison. We take the abuse of drugs in prison extremely seriously and work closely with the local police to target those who are involved in the supply of drugs.

"A significant and wide-ranging programme of work is underway in Lewes to reduce the supply of drugs.

"This includes CCTV, bans and prosecutions of visitors found to be smuggling drugs into the prison, as well as the use of search and drug detection dogs and mandatory drug testing programmes."

The man was arrested at about 2.30pm on Saturday.

A 29-year-old man, from Brighton, has been arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs. He has been bailed to return to Eastbourne custody centre in February next year.

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