Terrace homes are being favoured for large-scale set-ups

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A cannabis farm is being raided in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire every two days on average - as the tell tale signs of how to spot one are revealed.

Staffordshire Police have raided a staggering 204 weed factories since the start on 2021.

This works out as more than one every two days.

Among the set-ups busted include:

The Leopard, in Burslem, where 12 mature cannabis plants and 100 seedlings on January 17 before the building was destroyed in a blaze days later;

Portland House, Burslem, where 300 plants were seized on January 24;

A terrace home in the Newport Lane area of Middleport where 60 plants were uncovered on January 24;

A house in Birches Head Road, Birches Head, where sophisticated operation with 184 mature plants and a similar number of smaller plants was found on November 21;

An address in High Street, in Talke, where a large-scale cannabis factory was found on November 11;

The former Woolworths store in Market Street in Longton, where 1,500 plants were seized on June 21;

Unit 59 in Brick Kiln Lane, Chesterton, where 1,481 mature and juvenile plants worth around £340,000 were discovered on May 7;

Former Lloyds Pharmacy on Stoke Road, Shelton, where 2,647 cannabis plants were seized on March 19 and;

The old Tulip Balti - also known as Tulip Wok - in Ford Green Road, Smallthorne, where a bust took place on January 6 last year.

The force said large-scale farming is becoming increasingly common, especially in residential properties and terrace housing in and around the Potteries.

Offenders often buy properties just for growing cannabis and will tamper with electrics to bypass meters.

Now Staffordshire Police have launched 'Operation Levidrome' to disrupt and deter drug operations in the county.

The force has invested in specialist equipment and training for officers for 'greater evidence gathering and intelligence sharing'.

Detective Superintendent Tom Chisholm said: "Large-scale cannabis farming is becoming increasingly commonplace and we have sustained efforts to clamp down on this activity; we want to make it very clear that it is not welcome in Staffordshire.

"Cannabis is a controlled Class B drug and its cultivation is often linked to more serious and complex crime.

"Offenders are likely to be part of an organised crime network and often they are intent on exploiting vulnerable people to 'tend to' or 'cultivate' the grows.

"It is vitally important the public understand that cannabis farming is often linked to sophisticated criminal networks where there are high levels of serious and dangerous criminality.

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Police raiding cannabis farm in Staffordshire every two days

"There are also significant fire safety concerns linked to cannabis farming which further highlights the disregard these criminals have in putting people at risk for criminal gain.

"Both the public and our partners play an important role in providing intelligence around cannabis cultivation and we continue to appeal for information from landlords, letting agents and the wider public to report any suspicious activity."

Staffordshire Police provided the following ways below in how to spot a cannabis factory:

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