Sergeant issues house fire warning after shutting down cannabis grow

“Cannabis production is not a harmless crime – these grows could cause the fire that burns down your house.”

That’s the message from Bulwell’s sergeant after her neighbourhood policing team shut down another cannabis farm this week.

City North officers conducted an emergency warrant on a property after receiving intelligence it was being used to house a grow.

Lengths upon lengths of electrical wiring were found covering a residential address in Merchant Street on Monday (28 October) morning.

The electricity had been dangerously bypassed to help power the grow inside the building, with officers recovering 56 cannabis plants in total.

Evidence was also found of another cannabis grow in the loft that had already been cropped before police arrived.

Bulwell officers led the raid, supported by the Sherwood neighbourhood policing team, Tactical Support Group (TSG), and the cannabis dismantling team.

All the drugs and growing equipment were removed from the address, with the alterations to the electrics offering the greatest level of concern to Sergeant Katie Taylor.

“While the drugs seizure is obviously a good thing, it’s important for me to stress the dangers posed by the electrical issues we found here,” she said.

“There were wires across the whole property, with the electrics unsurprisingly found to have been bypassed. Put simply, this was a fire waiting to happen.

“I’d ask anyone that thinks a cannabis grow could be operating in a house near them, but who doesn’t want to ‘grass’ to the police, to please look at these pictures.

“People may view cannabis production as a victimless crime, but that really couldn’t be any further from the truth.

“Putting aside for a second the trouble drug activity can bring to communities, cannabis grows of this nature pose a very real fire risk to neighbouring houses.

“While some neighbours may be completely oblivious to their existence, we’d ask anyone who does have any concerns to let us know immediately so that we can act.

“This is an incredibly dangerous practice that could cause the fire that burns down your house.”

Anyone who has any suspicions about drug activity in their area is asked to report it to the police on 101, or by calling Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.