POLICE have refuted rumours an empty village house which was damaged by fire last week contained a cannabis farm.

Rumours circulating Sadberge that the terraced property in Church View, where firefighters extinguished a blaze last Thursday, had housed a cannabis farm are completely untrue, detectives have told The Northern Echo.

Detective Sergeant Jim Cunningham said crime scene investigators had visited the house on Saturday because the fire had initially been a suspected arson.

"There was more than one seat of the fire, so police are fire investigators have been in to see if there was anything suspicious.

"I can confirm we did not discover anything like a cannabis farm."

Police did not confirm whether the fire was being dealt with as suspicious.