A woman who was seen acting suspiciously in the visitors’ room at a Suffolk prison was allegedly seen to remove a package containing drugs out of her waistband as she was taken away to be searched, a court has heard.

Tamara Roberts was visiting an inmate at HMP Highpoint at Stradishall when a prison officer who was monitoring CCTV cameras alerted other officers including a dog handler after suspecting her of removing something from her clothing, Ipswich Crown Court was told.

Dog handler, Jon Blakely asked Roberts to leave the visitors’ area for a search and described her as being “quite evasive.”

As they were walking to the search area Mr Blakely allegedly saw Roberts retrieve something from the right side of her waistband.

He asked her to hand over the item and it was later passed on to police.

Roberts, 35, of Linford Road, London, has denied conveying a synthetic cannabinoid into a prison on February 3 last year.

She claims the package was passed to her by the prisoner she was visiting.

The trial continues.