A 27-YEAR-OLD man has appeared before Blackburn magistrates charged with producing 261 cannabis plants and abstracting electricity without authority.

Robert Harry Brierley, of Brook Street, Rishton, was sent on bail to Burnley Crown Court where he will appear on March 5.

Peter King, defending, said his client was anxious he should point out that while there was an unusually large number of plants they were all seedlings and it was unlikely they would all have reached maturity.