Two men jailed for their part in a plot to supply a third of a tonne of cannabis had their jail terms cut at London's Appeal Court on Tuesday .

Paul Kinsella, 37, of Chalfont Lane, West Hyde, and Peter Carter, 21, of Woodrush Place, Marys Island, Chatham, were jailed for six years and three-a-and-half years respectively at Isleworth Crown Court in September last year.

They had admitted conspiring to supply a Class C drug.

But Lady Justice Hallett, sitting with Mr Justice Goldring and Sir Richard Curtis at the Appeal Court in London, on Wednesday cut their sentences to five years and 27 months respectively - ruling the original terms were "manifestly excessive".

The court heard the two men had been in a house in Maple Cross, Hertfordshire, in May 2005, when police swooped and discovered a massive haul of 321 kilos of cannabis resin.

Kinsella had answered the door and Carter tried to escape - but both men were apprehended by officers.

The drugs were said by the judge to have had a "street value" of about £900,000.

Kinsella pleaded guilty to the charge only on the basis that he was taking care of the drugs for someone else.

Carter admitted the offence only to the extent that he had been a visitor to the house from time to time and had helped carry the drugs into the house.

Lawyers on their behalf today argued that the sentences meted out were simply too long given the basis of their guilty pleas.