TENS of thousands of pounds worth of drugs and money were discovered by a police dog following a car crash in Corsham on Sunday (July 2).

PD Fozzy and his handler PC Simon Goodwin attended the crash on the A4 Bath Road near the Cross Keys pub at 2.15pm after they received a call from a member of the public.

The driver of the Vauxhall Astra was reported to have left the scene carrying a number of small bags and a shoebox, before returning to the scene a few minutes later empty handed. 

PD Fozzy was deployed and tracked approximately 100 yards through a grass area nearby, over a stone wall and into a wooded area before locating a number of bags dumped deep within a large bush.

The items were recovered and found to contain suspected class A drugs, believed to be cocaine, worth approximately £21,600 and almost £28,000 in cash.

A 41-year-old man from Calne has been arrested on suspicion of driving a vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence, driving a vehicle whilst unfit through drugs and possession with intent to supply class A drugs.

He was taken to Melksham custody and has been released on bail pending further enquiries.

PC Goodwin said: "PD Fozzy only gained his licence in April but has already had a number of successful operational tracks. When we arrived at the scene I commanded him to ‘seek’, which he understands as the start of an exercise to use his senses, particularly that of smell, to track along a path of scent.

"He instantly put his nose to the ground and pulled along the grass verge, immediately picking up a scent. He was able to track a considerable distance over different types of surface to locate the items which had been hidden within a bush.

“Police dogs like Fozzy are trained for incidents like this and undergo regular training and assessments.

"In this incident, he was able to use his skills to track the items which led to the arrest of a man on suspicion of three offences “Without Fozzy, I don’t believe these items would have been found. I’m really proud of him – he has got a big career ahead of him."

Tri-Force Dog Unit Inspector Dave Eddy added: “This type of incident is exactly what our dogs are trained to do. This was an excellent result thanks to Fozzy – a large quantity of cash and drugs have been seized, preventing class A drugs from reaching the streets of Wiltshire.”

Anyone with information on the incident should call police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.