A BOLTON man hit with a £340,000 confiscation bill claimed his drug dealing conviction should be overturned because he was "entrapped" by an informant.

Paul Yearsley, 49, of Chorley New Road, was jailed for five years and four months at Manchester Crown Court on January 21, 2011.

He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply cannabis.

Following a 2013 confiscation hearing at the same court, he was ordered to pay £340,540.79 within six months.

Yearsley’s barrister, Alistair Webster QC, is now challenging his conviction at London’s Criminal Appeal Court.

He argued that a "participating informant" had "instigated the involvement" of Yearsley in the cannabis plot.

Fresh evidence "entitled him to argue he has been trapped" and that his prosecution was "an abuse of process", said the barrister.

Mr Justice Goss adjourned Yearsley’s appeal to a further hearing when Crown lawyers will attend.

The judge, sitting with Lord Justice Beatson and Judge Alistair McCreath, said: “We are satisfied on the basis of the matters which have brought to our attention by Mr Webster that this is a case upon which the court would be assisted by the presence of the prosecution.”

No date was given for the next hearing of the case.