Sheffield police bust two cannabis farms worth £750,000 with plants just 'hours' from being harvested and moved onto the street

Officers in Hillsborough shut down two farms growing the Class B drug inside private addresses last week, one of which had plants growing across four floors.

Warrants were executed at the properties on Penistone Road and Owlerton Green on Thursday, with drugs being recovered at both properties.

Cannabis plants were found to be growing on four separate floors at the Penistone Road house, South Yorkshire Police said, ranging from young seedlings to plants which were ready to be cropped.

A dangerous "maze" of electrical cabling was also snaked around the house, hanging from ceilings and stairwells, which posed a potential fire hazard to the building and surrounding homes.

Around 300 plants were seized, worth an estimated £300k at street value.

Sergeant Simon Kirkham, from the force's Walkey and Hillsborough Neighbourhood Police Team, said: “This was a live grow, with some of the plants just hours away from being cropped, dried and packaged up for the streets.

“We seized around 300 mature plants, worth around £300,000 plus around £200 of bagged drugs.

“Cannabis production is big business, and it feeds into a much wider picture of exploitation, organised crime and violence. The people involved in this type of drug supply, are more often than not involved in other types of criminality too.

“It’s vital that we take action to disrupt these networks which are damaging our communities; putting a dent in production and profits is our priority.”

The raids follow a statement from the neighbouring police force in West Yorkshire, who recently hit back at members of the public explaining why they spend resources on targeting cannabis farms when it is not considered a 'hard' drugs.

Officers in Wakefield posted on Facebook last month, writing: "Often cannabis farms are looked after by people who have been smuggled into the country and forced into labour, and often for little or no money, separated from their loved ones, fearing violence and retribution if they don’t go along with it."

They added that the drug can prevent people going into town and city centres, impacting local businesses, result in the exploitation of young people coerced into dealing it while the farms, meanwhile, pose huge fire risks to neighbours.

South Yorkshire Police said officers discovered a sack of prepared cannabis worth around £50,000 in the cellar of the Owlerton Green property last week, whilst also seizing a further 400 plants. Forensic examinations are now taking place throughout the property with enquiries ongoing to identify the offenders involved.

Pc Max Jackson, from the force. said: “A lot of the properties we’ve raided recently are extremely dangerous, not only due to the unsafe wiring, but makeshift renovation work creating hazardous living conditions.

“Ladders are used instead of staircases; holes are cut in floors and nails are hammered into stair-rails – with the intention of keeping people like police officers out.

“Both of these properties create fire risks to surrounding properties and they attract other forms of criminality, disrupting the peace for those around them."