Greater Manchester is the cannabis capital of Britain - with almost a thousand plants seized by police every week.

Police seized a staggering 51,000 plants last year, according to Home Office data analysed by the M.E.N.

The figures show that officers took one cannabis plant off the streets on average every TEN minutes.

Just 2,900 more plants were taken off the streets of London - where the population is four times higher.

And in 2011/12, the force also seized more than 89,000 cannabis plants – higher than anywhere else in the country including London and the whole of Wales.

The data shows that police made a total of more than 9,000 drugs seizures in the region in 2012/13.

The figures show that that GMP seized 58.9kg of cocaine - a six-fold rise on the previous year.

They also seized 42kg of amphetamines and 90kg of heroin, compared with 5.5kg of heroin in the previous year.

But the biggest haul was in cannabis. In addition to the 51,000 plants seized, officers also seized 217kg of herbal cannabis and 131kg of cannabis resin.

It means the force are taking a gram of cannabis resin off the streets on average every four minutes. They are also removing one gram of heroin every six minutes and one gram of cocaine every nine minutes.

The news follows a huge push by Greater Manchester Police to crackdown on drugs, which has seen a series of high-profile raids on dealers.

Greater Manchester Police made more drugs seizures in total than any police force outside London.

One of the GMP's most successful ever drugs crackdowns, Operation Cairo, was launched last year.

It saw 45 criminals jailed for a total off 144 years in prison.

The operation was launched in Cheetham Hill because the area had become the go-to area for users across the region.

Daytime dealers were rooted out after police went undercover as addicts.

Dial-a-drug numbers with nicknames like the 'Snickers Line' and the 'Snowy Line' were offering deals for as little as £5 a wrap.

A man was arrested earlier this year after cannabis plants worth £250,000 were seized from a house in Wigan.

In October, five men from Greater Manchester were jailed after police smashed an £8m cannabis ring.

Police have described the conviction as 'biggest ever prosecution for cannabis supply in the UK'.

In November, police found a giant cannabis farm spread across two terraced houses in Miles Platting containing £180,000 of the potent herb.

Bosses at a leading charity that supports professionals who work in drug and alcohol treatment, drug education and prevention and criminal justice, says it is vital that funding is not cut for treatment for addicts.

Harry Shapiro from the DrugScope charity said: "These seizures shouldn't come as any surprise as Manchester, like other cities, is a hub of the drug culture in the UK. It has been this way since the heroin epidemic of the recession in the 1980s. The culture has been fairly well embedded for some time.

"Although overall the drug use is generally on the decline, there are still hotspots and Manchester is clearly one of those.

"Manchester is well-served by support organisations, our main concern is over funding for treatment.

"Local authorities are now in charge of treatment. They are under huge pressure and some are making swingeing cuts. Our concern is that this investment will start to be cut in the next couple of years."