An alleged drugs kingpin was seen driving around in his Towie girlfriend's Porsche as he ran his criminal empire, a court heard.

Daniel Harris, 33, who has a young child with reality star Cara Kilbey, was under police surveillance for more than a year before his arrest in March last year, jurors were told.

Unemployed Harris lived in "style" with his independently wealthy girlfriend although he had no identifiable income of his own, the court has heard.

When police searched the couple's luxury home in Theydon Bois, Essex, some £116,000 in cash was found stashed in an Asda bag in their daughter's bedroom, the Old Bailey has heard.

The prosecution claim Harris was the boss of a three-and-a-half-year cocaine dealing operation, turning over nearly £500,000-worth of the Class A drug a week.

Harris denies involvement in the plot, although jurors have heard that others have already pleaded guilty to their part.

The defendant also denies planning a £200,000 heroin deal which was scuppered by police in May 2015 was well as possessing criminal property at his home.

Detective Sergeant Martin Groves told jurors that Harris and the convicted plotters were under surveillance from February 2015 until March last year.

Officers were deployed around 50 times to see what cars the suspects were in and track their movements, he said.

The court has heard how Harris never got his "hands dirty" and kept the supply of cocaine at "arm's length".

He drove Ms Kilbey's white Porsche to meetings at the Railway bar and grill, Monkhams pub, both in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, and the George and Dragon in Epping, jurors heard.

Harris was also seen talking to plotters at a branch of Cafe Rouge at Euston station and a cafe in Canada Water, south London, jurors were told.

The court heard how police seized drugs with a street value of nearly £200,000 after observing a handover in Gravesend, Kent, on May 7 2015.

That evening, one of the gang was tracked driving through the Blackwall Tunnel and on to the A2 towards Gravesend where he picked up a bag containing just under 2kg of heroin.

Police swooped and seized the consignment which was found to be of "good quality" with a purity of 57 per cent, the court heard.

Prosecutor, Peter Clement, told jurors that the heroin had a wholesale value of £50,000 to £66,000 and a street value of £198,000.

But that day, Harris was not picked up by the surveillance team in contact with any of the men, the court heard.

Some of the heroin gang were also involved in the long-running cocaine operation, allegedly under the leadership of Harris.

The gang cut cocaine with bulking agent benzocaine and sold it on for "vast profits", the court has heard.

The sophisticated operation centred around a flat in Clerkenwell, east London, and a lock-up garage four miles away, which was bugged by police, jurors were told.

Inside the garage, police found cocaine in Union flag logo bags and mopeds which were fitted with "Knowledge boards" to disguise drugs couriers as trainee black cab drivers, the court has heard.

The trial continues.