Raid on illegal Bolton alcohol distillery finds 350,000 pints of beer

The illicit distillery was found on an industrial estate in Bolton

A raid on an illegal alcohol distillery has led to a seizure of 350,000 pints of beer.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers found 200,000 litres of beer as well as vodka, wine and 1,000 cannabis plants at an industrial estate in Bolton.

A dozen 40ft (12m) containers filled with alcohol, two cars and an industrial-sized container of diesel were also found.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said no arrests have been made.

Officers said the alcohol and cannabis were worth about £600,000.

Eamonn O'Neill, Assistant Director of HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service, said this was "theft from the taxpayer and undermines legitimate traders".

"Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clamp down on the illicit alcohol market which costs the UK around £1bn per year," he said.

Illicit vodka was also seized in the raid on Tuesday

Ch Insp Mike Russell of GMP said the cannabis find was "one of the largest drugs farms ever discovered in Bolton".

He added: "This was a very sophisticated operation and would have taken a lot of time and effort to set up and maintain."