AN innocent couple were on holiday when police raided their home and seized a drugs farm, a court heard yesterday.

Thomas Kline, 37, installed 29 cannabis plants in the airing cupboard at his parents' house soon after waving them off, said Ian Skelt, prosecuting.

His father was arrested when they returned a fortnight later and interviewed about the crop, Teesside Crown Court heard.

It was Kline's money-saving scheme because he spent £30 a week on cannabis.

Yesterday Judge Peter Bowers ordered the destruction of the plants seized on May 5 from the house in Pierce Street, Middlesbrough.

Paul Cleasby, defending, said Kline was unemployed but was training for a job as a cook on oil rigs.

Kline, of Wilton Street, Middlesbrough, was ordered to do 50 hours community service and given 12 months probation after he pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis plants.