Three brothers who dealt thousands of pounds worth of drugs from their Skipton restaurant introduced crack cocaine to the town, a Court heard.

Brothers Aklu Miah, Babru Miah and Fojlu Miah, all of Keighley, appeared at Doncaster Crown Court yesterday, charged with conspiracy to supply heroin and crack cocaine.

The court heard that the brothers had undercut other drug dealers in Skipton by selling their drugs more cheaply.

The court was told that the brothers, led by Aklu Miah, 23, of Bradford Road, Keighley, operated drug dealing houses and contacts throughout Bradford and Skipton.

As well as dealing from the Taste of Bengal Restaurant in Skipton during 1998, the brothers also used premises in Devonshire Street, Keighley, Western Road, Skipton, and a flat above a baker's shop in Russell Street, Skipton, to weigh and sell heroin and cocaine, the court heard.

A fourth person, Jane Thomas, 23, now of Manchester, and Aklu Miah's girlfriend, is also charged with conspiracy to supply class A drugs. All four pleaded not guilty.

A former girlfriend of Aklu Miah, Karen Syers, who received a two-year prison sentence for drug dealing in 1998, described how she and Miah would travel to the Esso Petrol Station in Toller Lane, Bradford, to pick up heroin and cocaine before returning to houses in Bingley or Keighley to hide them

Syers, who had a £200 a day habit when she was going out with Miah in 1998, said that her boyfriend and his two brothers all dealt in drugs.

Under cross examination from Felicity Davies, prosecuting, Syers said she first met Miah in February 1998. She said: "It was obvious that he was dealing drugs. He used to bring drugs over on a daily basis to sell in Skipton. I used to go to Bradford with Aklu when he was buying the drugs."

The trial continues.

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