'Highly sophisticated' cannabis farm with almost 1,300 plants uncovered in Sheffield city centre

South Yorkshire Police said officers found almost 1,300 cannabis plants inside the disused building in Eyre Street in Sheffield city centre on October 24.

After forcing entry into the building, officers also discovered parts of the building had been used for living quarters, while the cannabis grow was found on the ground floor.

Further investigations found more cannabis plants inside ‘hidden rooms’ which had been created by drilling through walls.

A total of 1,298 plants were found inside the building.

Sergeant Simon Pickering, whose team carried out the raid, said: “The cannabis farm we encountered on Eyre Street was highly sophisticated and it was clear a large operation had been going on inside the building.

"We found evidence that people had been living inside and we suspect they had been tending to the plants which had a potential street value of around £1.2million.

"While we didn't make any arrests at the scene, we are exploring a number of forensic opportunities to identify suspects and bring them into custody.

"Large cannabis grows such as this one are often used to fund the activity of organised crime groups who take advantage of vulnerable people and bring violence to our streets.

"Putting a stop to this operation will have made a significant dent in this criminal activity and we're now working hard to progress the investigation.

"Information provided to us by the public helps us to act quickly and I'd urge anyone who knows someone is growing cannabis near to where they live or work to get in touch with us as soon as possible.

"Signs a building is being used to grow cannabis include visitors at strange hours, excessive condensation on windows, a blocked letterbox and blacked out windows."

Anyone with information about the cannabis grow is asked to contact police on 101, quoting incident number 146 of October 24. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.