A CANNABIS stash grown by actor Jody Latham would have earned him £5,000 - but the former Eastenders and Shameless actor has been ordered to repay just £1.

Latham, who made a return to the Channel Four drama in its final series, was convicted of producing cannabis after 24 plants were seized at his ex-girlfriend’s East Lancashire home in 2011.

Around 16 of the 24 plants, discovered behind a partitioned wall of a garage at a house in Stacksteads, had matured.

And after a financial investigation by Lancashire Police, under the Proceeds of Crime Act, it was decided that the ‘financial benefit’ from the haul was £5,000.

But lawyers representing the Burnley-born actor successfully argued that the 29-year-old had no realisable assets.

Judge Simon Newell ordered Latham to hand over a nominal £1 - as his ‘proceeds of crime’ or serve seven days in custody in default of payment.

Latham, then said to be a habitual user of the drug, originally told police that he had grown cannabis because he feared buying from dealers because of his celebrity status.

He broke down in tears in December when he was given a suspended prison sentence, by Judge Beverley Lunt after admitting to a charge of producing cannabis.

Latham found fame when he played Philip ‘Lip’ Gallagher in Shameless, a role he reprised in the final series.

Later he went on to secure various roles, including a regular spot in ITV’s The Fixer and as pimp Rob Grayson, in Eastenders.

But away from the small screen he has notched up a series of court convictions.

In 2006 he was cautioned for possession of cannabis and in 2007 he was similarly cautioned for cannabis production on the Isle of Man.

He was convicted of assault in 2003 and for using threatening words or behaviour in both 2007 and 2010.

Last year when he appeared before Bolton Crown Court for a motoring offence he told a judge he was on the verge of bankruptcy.