THE dangerous state of the electrical system at a huge cannabis farm discovered during a police raid was last night described as a “ticking time bomb” which could have "taken out the whole street".

When police stormed the large detached house in Bishop Auckland at about 8.30am on Friday morning, officers found almost every room full of cannabis plants in different stages of cultivation.

A 30-year-old man was arrested at the address, in Durham Road, when the warrant was executed as a result of intelligence officers received about the property.

Bishop Auckland Neighbourhood Inspector, Andy Reeves, who led the raid, said the haul, where more than 300 plants were seized, was the largest he had ever seen in his career and had a street value of at least £250,000.

As well as the four bedrooms full of plants; officers also found the electricity supply had been tampered with and 42 electrical junction boxes were in operation with wires running throughout the building.

An electrician from Npower’s Revenue Protection team, who was initially called to try to make the property safe, said the meter had been bypassed to create one large live wire which was so dangerous the Northern Powergrid had to be called in.

The meter, situated in the basement, had started to melt from the amount of electricity being used and was surrounded by gas cylinders which the electrician said could have “taken out the whole street”.

“We help the police because there’s a chance of people getting electrocuted or a fire starting,” he said.

“It’s really dangerous and this is a really bad one because it’s gone straight to the mains – the only way to turn it off would be by a substation so we had to call Northern Powergrid to make it safe because it’s that bad.

“It’s a ticking time bomb.”

Insp Andy Reeves said: “The whole electrical system has been tampered and we have found more than 300 plants at various stages of growth so it was a very professional set up.”

He said a “highly sophisticated” irrigation and ventilation system had also been installed and fans put on timers to make sure the tell-tale smell was constantly dissipated.

"This is the biggest cannabis grow I have seen in my police service,” he added.

“Ultimately we are taking these drugs off the streets so that can only be good for us and it also shows the public that we will act on information we receive.”

PC Alistair Henry, added: “The small raids we tend to deal with tend to be in terraced properties so this is unusual but we would like to deter others from doing it and if it stops another grow going in somewhere then that’s a good thing.”

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