Three men have confessed to being in a gang which plotted to sell £150,000 worth of heroin on the streets of Kidderminster.

They were arrested after a six-month police operation which ended with officers making test purchases of the drug in October last year.

Alan Sewell, 42, of Hurcott Road, Kidderminster, initially pleaded not guilty to a charge of conspiracy to supply heroin between April and October last year. But after two days of legal argument at Worcester Crown Court, he changed his plea to guilty.

He was remanded in custody for medical and pre-sentence reports.

His fellow conspirators, Alan Bramley, 45, of Park Lane, Kidderminster, and Wayne Cleavely, 26, of Jubilee Drive, Kidderminster, pleaded guilty at earlier hearings and are also in custody.

Judge David McEvoy QC directed the jury to return a formal guilty verdict against Sewell who made a confession to police when first interviewed.

But he had sought to have the confession ruled inadmissible. When this was rejected, he had changed his plea.

Ebrahim Mooncey, prosecuting, said £5,690 had been recovered from Cleavely's girlfriend and £315 seized from Sewell. There was little other money to be found but Bramley was to be investigated to find out if he had benefited from drug trafficking.

John Cooper, for Sewell, said he had kept out of trouble for several years. He asked for an up-to-date report on Sewell's medical condition.

The judge said he would hear evidence at the sentencing on July 15 that Cleavely's only reward was heroin to fund his own habit.