Stolen machinery worth £400,000 seized in raid

The plant hire machinery was seized from a Wolverhampton industrial estate

Suspected stolen plant hire machinery worth an estimated £400,000 was discovered during a raid on an industrial estate in Wolverhampton, where a cannabis farm was also found.

Among the items seized from a compound on the Watery Lane Industrial Estate were a JCB handler, two forklifts, two scissor lifts, a cherry-picker and more than 250 suspected cannabis plants.

A man in his 60s was arrested on suspicion of handling stolen goods and cultivating cannabis and has since been released on police bail.

West Midlands Police were working with colleagues from the National Construction and Agricultural Theft Team based in Northumbria as part of an investigation into thefts from across the country.

Suspected cannabis plants were found at the site

A "sophisticated growing set-up" had been spread across several units which was dismantled during the raid on 9 September, police said.