SEVEN Vietnamese people have appeared in court charged with producing cannabis.

Son Nguyen, aged 38, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce cannabis when he appeared at Bolton Crown Court yesterday.

Ly Tran, aged 27, Tu Nguyen, aged 35, Anh Nguyen, aged 21, Tai Lam, aged 33, Huong Nguyen, aged 22, and a 14-year-old boy, all of no fixed address, did not enter pleas.

The hearing was adjourned until April 28, with a trial expected to start on July 7.

The charges relate to five cannabis farms discovered in a series of dawn raids across Bolton last November. Police also uncovered two further cannabis factories in Burnley and in Keighley, West Yorkshire, as part of the same operation.

The plants from the seven farms are estimated to have had a total value of £500,000.

Hundreds of cannabis plants, in various stages of growth, were seized, along with cultivation equipment, chemicals and electrical items.

The five farms in Bolton were in Farnworth, Heaton, Ladybridge, Over Hulton and Great Lever.