Cannabis farm worth £400k found after power cut

A cannabis farm worth about £400,000 has been dismantled by police in North Yorkshire, after suspicions were raised by an electrical supplier.

Police said the supplier was investigating a power outage on Friday when it noticed irregular power usage at the property in Jubilee Road, Aiskew, near Bedale.

Officers found the "sophisticated" set-up with thousands of plants but, as they arrived, two people ran from the scene.

A police helicopter was scrambled to help find them, and they were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the supply of a Class B drug.

Police said the men, in their 30s, were believed to be part of an organised crime group based in the Western Balkans.

They have been charged with cannabis production, the force said.

Supt Teresa Lam said: "Cannabis farming is extremely harmful and is often linked to sophisticated criminality.

"It's used to fund criminal gangs who are involved in serious organised crime such as human trafficking, sexual exploitation and the distribution of Class A drugs such as cocaine and heroin."

She added: "There are significant health and safety concerns linked to organised grows like this one which can cause various problems such as the electrical outage which was reported to us.

"I'm grateful to the electrical supplier for providing the information and we continue to appeal for landlords, letting agents and the wider public to report any suspicious activity."

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