A MAN who acted as a chauffeur for drug dealers peddling crack cocaine and heroin has been banned from meeting four named men or driving a hire car for five years.

Stephen Foster, 42, of Glenwood Avenue, Southend, was handed two community protection warnings by drugs squad officers between June and August last year.

They were fed up with Foster ferrying around dealers operating a ‘county line’ drugs phone.

County lines are phone numbers used typically by London gangs to deliver class A drugs to lucrative markets in the home counties.

He breached the warnings on September 8 and was handed a community protection notice.

Foster breached the notice just six days later and a tough criminal behaviour (CBO) order was sought and granted this week.

Sgt Ash Holland, of the Operation Raptor team, said: “He has been driving around people who we believe are responsible for drug dealing.

“What is quite unique about this is we were granted the order under anti-social behaviour legislation and he hasn’t been convicted of a drug-related crime.

“We have proved that the behaviour he is carrying out is causing nuisance, inconvenience and distress regardless of whether it’s criminal or not.

“We asked him to stop the behaviour, he was found guilty of breaching a community protection notice and that’s how the order was obtained.”

Southend Magistrates’ Court banned Foster from associating four individuals- named as Karl Newell, Raheem Williams, Jason Deleon and Jake Motley.

He is not to drive or be a passenger in a vehicle for which he is not the registered keeper. This does not include public transport or a private hire vehicle such as a taxi.

He is also not allowed to drive or be a passenger in a hire vehicle.

Sgt Holland said the order, although draconian, will help to protect Foster as well as innocent members of the public.

He said: “It shows we can stop people carrying out the activity that is contributing to crime by proving that the activity is causing a nuisance for the community.

“From a policing point-of-view it prevents him from associating with these people and continuing to drive them around.

“From his point-of-view, it protects him because although he’s clearly not the dealer he is facilitating the drug dealing.”