TWO men were arrested on suspicion of cultivating cannabis today after police swooped on a house in a Kent village.

Officers entered the property in Merton Road, Bearsted, near Maidstone, at about 12.30pm and found three rooms full of mature cannabis plants and one room full of seedlings.

Following a short chase two men, one aged 18 and the other 31, were arrested and were due to be questioned.

Police said the rented house hosted a professional hydroponics factory and the value of what had been seized ran into "several thousand pounds".

Sgt John Marshall, who led today’s action, said: “This initiative was part of a force-wide drive aimed at combating crime and antisocial behaviour.

"Our aim today was to disrupt the drugs market in Maidstone and I feel we have been successful in doing just that.”