A CANNABIS farm worth up to £550,000 has been uncovered by police.

Around 2,000 plants were found in the basement of an abandoned warehouse on Union Road, North Shields at around 9am on Wednesday.

One person has been arrested and released pending further inquiries.

Detective Inspector Jon Bensley said: “This is a considerable amount of cannabis that we can only assume was meant to be sold on, and thanks to the investigative work of our officers, it is now off our streets.

“The cultivation of cannabis on this scale is closely linked to other organised criminal activity. As such, we will continue to target the people responsible for these farms as well as the so-called farmers.

“The impact of cannabis farms like this has a notable effect on our communities. Some of the people who buy these drugs are those responsible for the core crime that takes place in our neighbourhoods to fund their addictions.”