A CANNABIS farmer has been jailed for two years after cops unearthed a £66,000 haul at a business in Darwen.

Paul Hunter, 41, claimed he had been cleaning up in a disused restaurant when he was caught at the premises of Hunter Trading in The Green.

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Officers executed a search warrant on October 13, last year, and spotted Hunter emerging from the premises covered in dust and carrying a shovel, Preston Crown Court heard.

They searched the cellar and found the plants with an estimated yield of more than £60,000 in a secret room, hidden behind shelving units and a cupboard, which had the back removed, the prosecution said.

Further investigations linked Hunter to a second production unit in Watery Lane, Darwen, which had been dismantled, and a search of Hunter’s home in Sandy Lane, Darwen, led officers to a further £9,000 of plants, which he claimed were for personal use, growing in the garage.

The court was told Hunter had accrued a considerable drugs debt and had agreed to allow unnamed men higher up the supply chain to use his premises to set up a cannabis farm.

When the crop failed at Urban Developments, in Watery Lane, a second farm was set up in the cellar of Hunter Trading.

However by the time officers found the crop at Hunter Trading, the smaller plants had been sabotaged and only the ‘mother plants’ remained intact.

Ken Hind, defending, said his client had been under pressure to pay off his debts and had been in a legitimate business with his wife since his illegal activity was discovered.

He added Hunter was remorseful for what he had done.

Recorder David Potter, sentencing, said: “Involvement in three cannabis farms, two commercial and one personal, is so serious only a custodial sentence is appropriate.”

He jailed Hunter for 24 months and ordered the drugs and equipment should be destroyed.