This article is more than 10 months old

This article is more than 10 months old

A man has been arrested after police intercepted a van full of cannabis plants that were being moved from a flooded house in the east Midlands.

The vehicle was stopped for speeding in Nottinghamshire on Sunday night by police, who found it packed with bin bags containing 25 mature cannabis plants with a total street value of more than £20,000.

Two men fled the vehicle and ran into nearby fields but the driver, a 26-year-old man, was detained nearby and arrested on suspicion of the production and supply of cannabis.

Plant and production equipment was seized during a subsequent search of a house in Worksop, where scores of residents were evacuated and more than 200 homes and businesses were flooded last Friday after a month’s worth of rain fell in 24 hours.

The cellar of the house in Market Street had flooded, and an illegally diverted electricity supply to an upstairs cannabis growing facility had become more dangerous. One remaining cannabis plant and growing equipment in the attic were seized.

Sgt Tony Rungay, of Nottinghamshire police, said: “What started as a relatively routine vehicle stop led to the discovery of a large quantity of drugs.

“The flooding has had a big impact on the town of Worksop, causing misery for a number of families who have had to leave their homes. However, it appears it has also had the impact of flushing out some criminal activity by halting some large-scale cannabis production.”

The man who was arrested was questioned and released pending further inquiries, according to police.

Dozens of properties were evacuated after Worksop was flooded when the river Ryton burst its banks. Two homeless men almost drowned when they became trapped in an industrial wheelie bin they had been sleeping in, according to the fire service.

An emergency appeal in response to the flooding that has affected Worksop, Retford and Shireoaks was launched on Thursday by Bassetlaw district council.

“This appeal will support the families and local people whose homes and belongings have been damaged by the flood waters,” it said. Donations of clothes, bedding and smaller items are also being sought.

Meanwhile, a row has broken out between the authority and a local trust charity for looking after waterways after the leader of the council, Simon Greaves, said that delays in opening a sluice gate exacerbated flooding in Worksop.

He said council officials and residents had repeatedly asked the Canal and River Trust (CRT) to open the gate, which was eventually opened by the fire service.

The trust responded on Twitter on Thursday, saying that the sluice in Worksop was not for drainage but to feed a canal, adding: “Definitively, it would not have alleviated the flooding in the town. The water would have stayed in the area as the feeder, canal and river run in parallel a very short distance apart.”