Seven held after cannabis farm found in rural spot

Police say more than 1,000 cannabis plants were found at the rural location in North Yorkshire

Seven men have been arrested after a cannabis factory with an estimated value of £500,000 was found at an agricultural premises in North Yorkshire.

The farm was recently uncovered at a rural location in Sessay, near Thirsk, by officers after information from the public, North Yorkshire Police said.

In addition to the 1,000 plants, the force said a large quantity of dried cannabis in 500g to 1kg bags were also found at the property.

The arrested men, from West Yorkshire, were arrested on suspicion of cultivating cannabis, police added. All have been released on conditional bail.

Police said the farm took days to dismantle and involved seizing lighting and other equipment also believed to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Insp Rory Sadler, of the Hambleton neighbourhood team, said they had received "community intelligence" suggesting there was a cannabis farm at the location and were subsequently granted a warrant to search the premises.

"The production of a cannabis grow on this scale causes significant issues for communities as is often linked to violence, exploitation and other forms of criminality," he said.

"Illegal enterprises such as this will not be tolerated in North Yorkshire and we will always work to proactively remove them."

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