POLICE officers with a nose for crime have uncovered a £30,000 cannabis farm while out dealing with a routine inquiry.

PCs Neil Kinsey and Ian Beacon called at a house in West Cornforth, County Durham, yesterday to speak with one of the occupants.

While they were outside the Hollyhurst Road property, their noses twitched at an unusual smell - which turned out to be 35 mature cannabis plants. PC Kinsey said: "We had actually gone along to give a warning to someone regarding a completely different matter and while we were outside the house we just caught the smell.

"We left having dealt with the warning and we were able to confirm between us what we thought we had smelled.

"We went back and it turned out we were right.

"It was quite a sophisticated set up with piping and fans which vented up out of the house but all it takes is a gust of wind and you can tell."

PC Kinsey added: "The man we actually arrested was not the man we first came to see, he was just staying with his friend, so you could say he actually led us to the suspect."

A 20-year-old man living at the semi-detached property was arrested and the plants were seized.

The man was taken to Spennymoor Police Station where he was questioned and later released on police bail.