Police find walls smashed down to convert £350,000 Northampton house into drugs factory

Tip-offs from locals led police to find a plush £350,000 house in a quiet Northampton cul-de-sac had been trashed to build a massive drugs factory.

Officers from the Northamptonshire Police Neighbourhood Team uncovered the huge haul of cannabis plants in the four-bedroom property in Penn Gardens, East Hunsbury.

Inside, they found one room downstairs, four bedrooms and a loft full of around 300 cannabis plants — together worth more than £100,000.

Seargeant Beth Curlett from the Neighbourhood Team said: "The property had been converted into a cannabis factory — it had one room downstairs full of cannabis plants and four rooms upstairs. There were also plants in the loft.

"Three of the upstairs bedrooms had walls knocked down to make it one big room — 300 plants in total.

"It was as a result of community intelligence that we were able to take this factory down.

Thank you to the public for their information and please keep reporting suspicious activity to us.

“We will continue to target those people responsible for bringing controlled drugs to our county.

“I want to appeal again to any members of the public who suspect that there are drug dealers or cannabis grows in their neighbourhoods.

“Many residents might be in two minds about contacting the police, but I offer reassurance that we will treat information in the strictest confidence.

"If you think there might be a cannabis farm next door, please let us know. We can easily establish if that is the case or not.”

Police have charged a 23-year-old man in connection with the find.