A NEW crime-fighting team marked its biggest success yesterday, after a raid on a flat recovered drugs worth more than £80,000.

Derwentside police's Divisional Response Unit (DRU) raided an address in West Road, Annfield Plain, near Stanley and recovered more than 80 cannabis plants, plus hydroponics equipment worth about £5,000.

The six-member DRU team was set up a month ago to tackle crime across north-west Durham.

Detective Sergeant Paul D'eath, who heads up the unit, said the haul was the team's best result so far.

"This is our most successful job so far in terms of quantity and financial value of drugs recovered," he said.

"Whether this was done by the DRU or someone else, it is a sizeable drugs haul and has taken a significant amount of cannabis off the street market.

"They are mature plants ready for harvest and would have been destined for our pubs and clubs. This was a sophisticated set-up. The room was blacked out and the plants were rigged up under lights, in compost with additives to help them grow.

"Each plant was labelled and we believe there may be several different types of cannabis."

Samples from the haul are to be sent for laboratory analysis.

A 31-year-old local man was arrested and was last night helping police with their inquiries.