A cannabis “forest” has been discovered by police officers in a leafy borough of south-west London.

About 150 marijuana plants surrounded by native plant life were found by police officers from Kingston upon Thames who posted images of the discovery on social media.

At around 1.5 metres (5ft), some of the plants appeared taller than one of the officers from the Grove Safer Neighbourhood team seen in the images, which were tweeted with the hashtags #TheseAren’tXmasTrees and #saynotodrugs.

An interesting find on Grove ward. We're going on a bear hunt!!!!#saynotodrugs #Grove pic.twitter.com/bzZZULcq4H — MPS Grove SNT (@MPSGroveSNT) September 25, 2015

PC Sarah Henderson, of Kingston, said: “The area these plants were growing on was the size of a football pitch, it looked like a small forest of Christmas trees and was complete with a gazebo.

“Whoever set this up used a really remote spot. The only way to get there was a 20-minute walk through wasteland. But all their time, trouble and gardening skills will go unrewarded, as the whole lot will now be destroyed by police.”

Police were alerted to the plantation on Thursday by a call from a member of the public who found the plants growing on disused private land on Lower Marsh Lane, a few streets from a university halls of residence, a sixth-form college, fitness centre and Berrylands train station.

Officers secured the scene and were making arrangements for the plants to be removed for disposal.



No arrests had been made and inquires were continuing to find those responsible for cultivating the plants.