CANNABIS with a street value of more than £100,000 has been found in a police raid in Great Lever.

Officers raided a mid-terrace home in Springfield Street, Great Lever, and found 255 cannabis plants — amounting to a street value of more than £500,000 in a year.

Police found the cannabis in three rooms and a landing of the upstairs of the home.

The home was raided at about 9am today.

Two people, man and a woman thought to be aged in their 30s, were arrested on suspicion of production of cannabis and abstracting electricity. They are thought to be Vietnamese.

It is believed the home has been used for several cycles of cannabis growing.

PC Carl Boydell, from Bolton Central Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “This warrant started off from a tip off from a member of the public but it wasn’t the street we were originally told about. We discovered the home after doing some digging.

“We would encourage people to get in touch with police with information relating to drugs or to call Crimestoppers, anonymously.

“One of the concerns we have about cannabis farms is people don’t always realise how dangerous it is to tamper with the electricity. In this house we found the electricity had been bypassed and it’s quite dangerous as it causes a risk of fire.”

A Springfield Street resident, aged 51, said: “This road is a reasonably quiet area where people keep themselves to themselves. I hadn’t seen anyone coming in and out of the home but I had smelled drugs on the street. I didn’t expect such a professional operation to be taking place on my doorstep. It has taught me to tell police in future. People are really shocked to find it was going on without a lot of us even realising.”

The raid follows Bolton Central’s officers finding a 200 plants in a rented home in Victoria Grove, Halliwell, last month. The drugs were found after an officer sniffed it out after smelling the drugs in the area.

People can call officers to report drug use in Bolton Central on 0161 856 5507 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.