Blaze at terraced house in Hapton alerts police to cannabis farm (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Blaze at terraced house in Hapton alerts police to cannabis farm

2:50pm Saturday 12th November 2011 in Hapton By Tyrone Marshall, Reporter

A HOUSE blaze led to the discovery of a £30,000 cann-abis farm at a terrace home yesterday.

Fire crews were called to the house in Wood Street, Hapton, just before noon after neighbours started to smell smoke.

The blaze was started by an electrical fault in wiring serving the 76-plant cannabis farm.

The fire ripped a hole into the upstairs floor and caused severe damage to several rooms.

The police were called and the plants and associated equip-ment was removed. No-one was in the property at the time.

PC Nigel Keates said: “The house is empty but it is rented out so we are making inquiries to find out who is behind this.

“It is a fairly reasonable size cannabis farm and we are keen to speak to anyone who may have information as to who is involved with it.

“This could have been very dangerous, it is fortunate that the neighbours were about to smell the smoke and call the fire service. There was a lot of elec-trical equipment piled up and it was only a matter of time before something went wrong.”

Residents living on the street said that they had no idea the house was being used as a cann-abis farm. One resident said: “I just presumed the house was empty. I never really noticed anything going on there, there was no suspicious activity or smells coming from it.

“It is a shock to think a house on your street is being used for this kind of thing, I would never have known.”