One of county's largest-ever cannabis farm uncovered

Cannabis plants with an estimated street value of £500,000 have been seized after one of the largest-ever drug farms in Wiltshire was uncovered, police say.

Wiltshire Police discovered the haul of roughly 1,500 cultivated plants in a disused poultry unit near Burbage.

Detectives estimate that about £1.5m worth of electricity was drawn from the National Grid to power the site.

Det Sgt Joe Shanklin said: "The sophisticated setup included electricity illegally drawn directly from the National Grid to power hundreds of grow lamps, as well as a full irrigation system."

"We have also found signs of a number of people who had been living on site, with bedrooms and cooking facilities within the barn," he added.

"The scale of this operation is significant and appears to have been in place for a substantial period of time."

Officers said that the factory was first discovered by a member of the public on Friday and had been expertly modified into a series of internal rooms housing cannabis plants in varying stages of maturity.

No arrests have been made and the seized plants and equipment will be destroyed.

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