A DRUG dealer caught selling heroin in a copse next to a school will serve an extra month behind bars after launching a hopeless bid to clear his name.

Mark Dale Wray and an accomplice were arrested after police followed a known drug user into a wooded area near Sheldon School, Chippenham, in July 2014.

Officers found a sock on the ground nearby which was stuffed with wraps of heroin and Wray was carrying £640 in cash, which he claimed was from washing cars.

Wray, 40, of Graythwaite Road, Swindon, was found guilty of conspiracy to supply and jailed for three years at Swindon Crown Court in April last year

Yesterday he challenged his conviction at the Court of Appeal, in London, arguing it was "unsafe".

In written appeal documents, he claimed he received bad legal advice and said mobile phone evidence used at his trial was "inadmissible".

But his complaints were thrown out by top judges, who said there was "nothing" in any of his grounds of appeal.

Sir Nicholas Blake, sitting with Lord Justice Davis and Mr Justice Lavender, said: "The evidence against him was overwhelming and the conviction is safe.

"None of the grounds have any substance whatsoever, this is a case that is wholly without merit."

The judges took the rare step of ordering Wray to serve 28 extra days behind bars for wasting the court's time.