POLICE were amazed when they raided a former chicken factory and found a huge cannabis farm.

The farm in Hartlepool had an irrigation system, ultra-violet lights and working distribution system.

There were hundreds of cannabis plants worth tens of thousands of pounds at the premises in Usworth Road Industrial Estate on the outskirts of the town centre, off Brenda Road.

"Many, many hours of work and a lot of money has gone into this operation," said Detective Sergeant Matt Mason, of Hartlepool Police.

"You never know what to expect when you go on a raid like this, but we never expected anything on this scale. We have been here for hours and hours and we have only emptied a single room. It will take some time just to count the number of plants."

The volume of cannabis was such that the plants could be smelt outside.

Police officers raided the farm at 11am yesterday after securing a warrant under the misuse of drugs act as part of an ongoing Cleveland Police clampdown on drugs.

Two men in Hartlepool have been arrested and were last night helping police with their inquiries.