A "quiet" Darlington street was plunged into the centre of a police probe after a cannabis farm was uncovered inside an abandoned former social club. 

Officers were spotted camped outside of the the former St Marys Association Club, on Raby Terrace, on Tuesday (September 17) and overnight, leaving residents "baffled".

Several police vehicles were spotted outside the building on Wednesday morning, including one van and two police cars as well as several officers. 

Durham Constabulary has now confirmed that a workman who had attended the property to unblock the drains had stumbled upon a large cannabis farm. 

Police were spotted outside the abandoned building on Raby Terrace Police were spotted outside the abandoned building on Raby Terrace (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

The worker raised the alarm to police after uncovering the farm, with the force saying that several hundred plants were found inside the vacant building. 

The plants will be seized by officers today. 

Residents told the Northern Echo of their shock after their "usually quiet street" became the centre of a police probe, saying they had watched teams place mesh on the windows of the property after officers first arrived on the scene. 

One 63-year-old resident said: "I was out yesterday and when I returned home, they were there, it was about 4pm. There was lots of police activity – two police cars in a van.

The building has been vacant for several yearsThe building has been vacant for several years (Image: THE NORTHERN ECHO)

"I didn’t see what they were doing. The building has now got a roller door on it and that is new. It must’ve been put on in the last day or so.

"I saw someone working on the building yesterday before the police arrived.”

The man, who has lived on the street for eight years, added: “It’s a bit of a rough area sometimes at night. I still don’t know what it is. There’s something strange about it all really.”

One 67-year-old woman, who has lived on the street for 50 years and previously worked at the club in the 1970s, said: “Police have been there all night.

"The council were putting the mesh on the windows yesterday afternoon and then the police just appeared and they were inside the club.

“It’s a pretty quiet street. The club has been empty for about three years. I went down to offer the police officer a drink - I felt bad for them!“

Another resident on the street added: "I don’t know what’s happened. Yesterday afternoon they put that green fence there in front of the door. But I haven’t seen any police.”

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A Durham Constabulary spokesperson has confirmed: "A large cannabis farm has been uncovered at a property on Raby Terrace, in Darlington.

"Officers were called shortly after 3.05pm yesterday (September 17) by a workman who had attended the property to unblock the drains.

"Several hundred plants were found in the property, which will be seized by officers today."