Hartlepool residents' shock at £75,000 cannabis farm on doorstep

Police acting on a tip-off raided an end terraced house in St Paul’s Road close to the town centre on Thursday afternoon where they found over 250 plants.

One resident described seeing a suspect climbing out of the skylight in the roof.

A man has been arrested and remained in police custody yesterday (Friday).

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said the current nearest estimate of the drugs is £75,000.

Hartlepool Neighbourhood Police Team said on their Facebook page after the find: “Hartlepool Neighbourhood Police Team in partnership with Cleveland Fire Brigade, acting upon local community intelligence located a large cannabis farm in the Victoria Ward in Hartlepool.

“Over 250 cannabis plants were located in a three storey property and one male has been arrested in connection with the incident.”

Residents said they believed the house to be empty.

Megan Brown, 19, who has lived in St Paul’s Road all her life was shocked at the discovery.

She told the Mail: “I didn’t think anybody lived there, we thought it was abandoned.

“I haven’t seen anybody in there for years. That’s a massive surprise.

“That is a lot of plants. I have heard about it in different places but not for this street and not to that extent.”
Another woman in the road, who did not wish to be named, described seeing two police vans and six police cars in the road at about 2.40pm.

She said: “There was someone climbing out the skylight window right at the top of the roof.

“I thought he was going to fall off. They didn’t catch him but they caught him somewhere else.

“I think it’s disgraceful.”

Another woman, who wished to remain anonymous and has lived in the street for 12 years, said: “All of a sudden there was loads of police. It was blocked off for quite a while.”

She added: “I don’t know who owns the house. It used to be a hostile for teenagers who had been in care but it has been empty for a long time.

“It does concern me a bit. There are quite a few empty houses; someone should keep an eye on them and see what’s going on.

“Who knows what’s going on next door?”

Residents said it was the second cannabis farm to be found in the street recently. One was also reported to have been uncovered in another house at the opposite end.

Police have urged anyone with any information about drug activity to contact them on 101.