Cannabis factories in Bury St Edmunds cause concern for police

Suffolk Police want Bury St Edmunds residents to keep a watchful eye over local properties after an increase in the number of homes being used as 'Cannabis Factories'.

Earlier this year  240 cannabis plants were seized after Bury St Edmunds police officers raided a property in Bury town centre which was being used as a cannabis factory. Specialist equipment used for growing cannabis was also discovered and seized in the raid.

Shockingly the criminals that are setting up cannabis factories are renting homes from landlords then leaving them virtually destroyed inside when they attempt to flee from the police with their drugs.

Personally I witnessed this in my own Bury St Edmunds neighbourhood. A neighbour rented out their home through a letting agency. One day they came to check on their house to find that their criminal 'tenants' had fled leaving thousands of pounds of damage in their wake

In snowy weather police are always suspicious of homes without snow on the roof as sometimes this indicates cannabis is being grown inside that particular house. The extreme heat used to grow the cannabis plants inside the house means that snow falling on the roof immediately melts.

In a recent Bury St Edmunds police community letter, Suffolk Police said: "We ask landlords and neighbours to look out for signs that any property is being used to grow cannabis."

Photographer: Martin Pettit