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A man who was part of a gang who hid a £1 million cannabis factory inside a HAYSTACK is facing prison.

Raymond Nicholls, 64, of Sheldon, pleaded guilty to the cultivation/production of cannabis and possession with intent to supply cannabis.

He is believed to be suffering from cancer and was released on bail for medical reasons and will be back at court at a future date to be sentenced.

Stafford Crown Court was told how the trio were arrested last March when detectives executed a warrant at Brackenhurst Farm in Newchurch, near Burton-on-Trent.

During the search, they found a significant amount of ‘skunk’ cannabis, thousands of pounds in cash, and a series of secret rooms which were completed hidden by hay bales but contained hundreds of cannabis plants.

(Image: SWNS)

Forensic scientists estimated that the plants seized had the capacity to produce 60.5kgs of ‘skunk’ cannabis a year which equates to a street value of £432,142.

A detailed investigation established that the factory had been operational for at least two years and it was evident that plans were under way to extend the business by constructing further rooms.

Two other defendants - Ian Locke, 63, of Pine Trees, Newport, Shropshire, and Martin Young, 51, of Farm Lodge Grove, Telford, - admitted the same charges and were sentenced to two years and three months and three years and two months respectively.

(Image: SWNS) (Image: SWNS) (Image: SWNS)

Recorder Michael Elsom said he accepted the trio were not the principal players, but had been part of the cultivation operation and had denied their roles right up until the day of trial.

Nicholas Tatlow, prosecuting, said considerable effort had been made in setting up the factory with hydroponic systems concealed by huge bales of hay in three barns and anyone visiting the farm would not have been suspicious.

“A tractor was needed to remove the bales to reveal the entrance to the numerous growing and drying rooms. It was a professional operation designed to create significant profits,” Mr Tatlow said, according to the Birmingham Mail.

He said Young had been the tenant at the farm since 2009 paying £28,000 a year rent and was running a business breeding shire horses. Locke and Nicholls had rooms at the farm house and all three men were at the property at the time of the police raid. Nicholls, said to have been diagnosed with cancer, had been recruited to carry out renovation work in the barns at the farm and became aware of what was happening.

He was paid “wages” and had been put under pressure to complete work and had moved into the farm house.

After the sentencing, Chief Inspector Rob Neeson from Staffordshire Police , said a cannabis factory with as much scale and sophistication as this, was “very unusual”.

“This carefully selected idyllic rural spot was exploited by the defendants and there is no doubt that this set-up was a professional operation, designed to generate a significant profit by selling drugs,” he said.