POLICE in Medway seized 332 cannabis plants with an estimated value of £83,000 when they raided a drugs factory.

Officers executed a warrant at the property in Banning Street at Strood in the early hours of Thursday.

The action was part of an ongoing drive to tackle the supply and use of drugs in the Medway Towns. It was the 11th factory to be uncovered in area and followed a similar find in Saunders Street, Gillingham, on New Year’s Day.

There officers seized 207 plants with a street value of £52,000. A 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of cultivating the drug. He has been released on police bail while investigations continue.

Det Insp John Coull, said: "Since September, when our major crackdown on drugs began, we have seized around £802,000 worth of cannabis plants. I believe we have been successful in delivering a major blow to the dealers.

"I would like to stress the dangers that these houses pose to the community. Often electricity metres are bypassed and the risk of fire is high.

"The risk is also very real, as we have seen when a fire broke out at a cannabis house in Corporation Road. We want landlords and neighbours to be vigilant and report any suspicions they have to us, as together we can make the Medway area an even safer place to live."

Police are asking Medway residents to be on the look-out for signs of possible illegal drugs activity, which include:

* Windows will be permanently covered from the inside

* Visits to the addresses will not match normal residents patterns

* Offenders may call daily or weekly but only for short periods

* Removal of quantities of black bags

* Compost bags and other gardening equipment in the garden but near the back door

* A pungent smell emanating from the property Sometimes a vent protruding from the roof tiles will be visible

Anyone with information is asked to contact Kent Police on telephone 01634 891055 or call Crimestoppers free and anonymously on telephone 0800 555 111.