POLICE who stopped a motorist in Swindon discovered a gun hidden under the driver's seat of his car.

Firearms officers stopped a grey Mini believed to be carrying drugs in Cricklade Road around 3.40pm on Wednesday, April 12.

The driver was initially detained under the misuse of drugs act and was taken to Gablecross police station.

However, during a search of the car for drugs a handgun was discovered under the driver's seat wrapped in a drawstring bag along with a magazine and two blank rounds.

Initially, it was believed the gun could only fire blanks, however on further inspection it was shown to have been modified enabling it to fire a live round.

On Friday, May 12 at Swindon Crown Court, Nicardo Stewart, 32, of Blackford Street, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm and was remanded in custody for sentencing in September.

Det Sgt Graham Mclaughlin from Swindon CID said: "This is a fantastic piece of work jointly carried out by Tri-force firearms officers and CID investigators.

"We successfully identified a suspect vehicle, stopped it, arrested the driver and discovered a potentially lethal weapon which is now off the streets - one less illegal firearm out there to cause harm."

Anyone who has any information about illegally held guns or ammunition should either contact Wiltshire Police on 101 or, if you wish to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.