POLICE have seized more than 400 cannabis plants during a drugs raid after being tipped off by a concerned landlord. Officers found plants and growing equipment when they swooped on the property in The Street, Cavenham, near Bury St Edmunds.

Laurence Cawley

POLICE have seized more than 400 cannabis plants during a drugs raid after being tipped off by a concerned landlord.

Officers found plants and growing equipment when they swooped on the property in The Street, Cavenham, near Bury St Edmunds.

Acting Chief Inspector Derek Wilding, Forest Heath's district police commander, last night said the investigation was still ongoing and urged members of the public to report anything they might suspect to be a cannabis factory in their community.

“These premises are a danger not only because the drugs that are grown will then be sold on our streets, but also because the premises themselves can potentially be a hazard.

“It is often the case that the electricity supply has been tapped into by these criminals, with exposed wiring to bypass the meter. In this case the energy company has told us it was one of the most dangerous factories they have seen, and had the potential to set light to the property and neighbouring houses.”

Possible signs of a cannabis factory, the police say, include permanently covered windows, visits to a home at unusual times of day and night, a vent protruding through the roof or a rear window, pungent smells, cooling fan noise and large numbers of soil and pots in the back garden.

Anyone with any information about this or any other cannabis factory should call Suffolk police on 01473 613500 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.