A BUSINESSMAN has been jailed for manufacturing illegal drugs inside the grounds of Derbyshire County Council's headquarters.

Neil Ogden produced unlicensed slimming and body-building supplements from Fitness Forum, in Matlock – within a few hundred metres of County Hall.

The 39-year-old also manufactured the illegal medicines at another gym he owned in Chesterfield called Pro Flex, where he also sold steroids.

He was jailed for two years at Derby Crown Court yesterday. Three others who helped him either manufacture or sell the drugs were also sentenced.

Ogden had a machine that created capsules of the drugs in a secure room at the Matlock gym. A price list in the two gyms included the unlicensed products, said David Herbert, prosecuting.

Ogden, of Chesterfield Road, Brimington, sold the drugs at shops and salons in "Derbyshire and beyond" and on the internet.

They were also sold through his close friend Ian Ratcliffe, 43, who owned a legal nutritional products company.

Ratcliffe, of Alstonfield Drive, Allestree, conspired with Ogden to manufacture one of the unlicensed medicines, which contained the illegal Class C drug testosterone.

He was jailed for 21 months.

Mr Herbert said the two men were also supplying steroids to body-builders.

The court heard how Ogden's wife, Toni, had helped her husband with the financial administration and marketing of the products for their company, Slim Magic.

The 36-year-old, of Hady, Chesterfield, was given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Manager of the Matlock gym, Ian Thompson, 43, of Grassmoor, Chesterfield, was given the same punishment for marketing and manufacturing three of the unlicensed drugs.

The pair must carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

The four defendants admitted offences that included conspiring to market unlicensed medicines; conspiring to produce unlicensed medicines; conspiring to manufacture unlicensed medicines and conspiring to supply Class C drugs, steroids.

Stephen Cobley, for Ratcliffe, said the defendant was not operating a "back street venture". Instead he believed the medicines to be legal and so recklessly committed the crime rather than deliberately.

But Mr Cobley said his client could not say the same for the anabolic steroids he had been supplying. Jonathan Carroll, for Neil Ogden, said his client accepted selling steroids at the Chesterfield gym but not the Matlock one.

The four were among 17 people arrested following drugs warrants carried out at 16 homes and three businesses in Matlock, Chesterfield, Derby and Buxton on July 2 and 3 last year.

Mick Deats, head of enforcement at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, said: "The medicines we seized pose a serious threat to public health.

"At best, these medicines could be a waste of money, at worst they could be severely detrimental to your health."

A spokeswoman for the county council said the authority had leased the building to Fitness Forum in May 2001 for 10 years.

She said: "We hadn't taken any action against them pending the outcome of the police investigation and criminal proceedings but now we will have to look at the position."