TWO Vietnamese men who were found guarding a cannabis farm worth hundreds of thousands of pounds have been jailed.

Judge Beverley Lunt told Vinh Vindh Tran and Nam Van Dang they will be deported back to their homeland when they are released from prison.

Burnley Crown Court heard how police attended flats on Leeds Road, Nelson, with a search warrant at 10am on November 6.

Jeremy Grout-Smith, prosecuting, said when officers made 33-year-old Dang aware of their presence he came and unlocked the gate to the property.

Tran, 18, was found hiding inside the two flats, which are above a convenience store.

Mr Grout-Smith said: "Six or seven rooms were being used to grow cannabis. The plants were at different stages of growth."

Mr Grout Smith said around 27 kilos of skunk were being grown inside the property using a 'sophisticated set-up' and it must have been obvious to the defendants that it was a 'criminal enterprise'.

There were more than 900 plants found inside the rented property, estimated to be worth up to £500 each.

Mr Grout-Smith said: "When interviewed by police the defendants made limited admissions. They admitted to being the gardeners of the site.

"It is accepted by the crown there are others up the chain.

"Both are in the country illegally. They are not trafficked. Mr Dang has failed to attend an immigration appointment making him an absconder.

"Mr Tran was arrested in 2015 in Wiltshire with others in the back of a lorry. He was released but failed to attend an immigration appointment. He too is classed as an absconder."

Defending Tran, Keith Harrison said his client put himself in danger travelling to the UK through Russia and France in search of a better life. He was then intercepted by immigration officers and put in a detention centre. He said his client was 'somewhat leniently' let out of the detention centre from time to time and 'ended up getting lost and found himself in Manchester'.

Mr Harrison said: "He was befriended by two Asian gentlemen who were first of all friendly to him and provided him with money. It seems that was with the purpose of gardening these plants.

"This is not something he has been involved in before. It is something he felt unable to remove himself from. He found himself in this role but he quickly realised the motivation of these two men was not kindness."

Defending Dang, Waheed Omran-Barber said his client was keen to be deported back to his homeland to see his mother who has terminal cancer.

Mr Omran-Barber said: "My client arrived in this country illegally in search of a better life. He worked at various nail bars but ended up homeless when the work dried up. He was approached in Piccadilly Gardens by some men. He was vulnerable at the time. He had nowhere to sleep and no future. He was offered £500 per month, food and accommodation. Of course the money never arrived."

Jailing the men for 16 months, Judge Lunt said she would be recommending to the Home Office that they are deported on release from prison.

Judge Lunt said: "It is obvious that people like you who are in the UK illegally and awaiting being found by the authorities are vulnerable to being approached by people who are criminals and who have commercial criminal enterprises, especially cannabis farms. They will offer you inducements to become part of the criminal enterprise.

"Both of you are Vietnamese nationals. Neither of you speak English at all or particularly well. Both of you were actively hiding from the authorities. I accept what you were offered essentially was somewhere to live and food to eat and that you were required to look after the plants. But it is clear from the photographs it must have been clear to you that this was a large criminal enterprise, which could have resulted in thousands and thousands of pounds worth of illegal drugs being harvested and sold to addicts."

A forfeiture and destruction order was made for the cannabis and drug paraphernalia.