Police have offered advice on how to tell if one of your neighbours is growing cannabis.
Their tips have come after 120 plants were found by officers after a major house fire in Harwill Crescent, Aspley, on September 18 - neighbours had to be evacuated.
PC Jonathan Stubbings, from Nottinghamshire Police, has asked people to be vigilant and given them the following things to look out for:
- Residents of properties who have moved in within the last year or two who are hardly seen – houses where there appears to be someone present who never leaves the house.
- Sporadic smells of Cannabis emanating from the property, often coming and going for a week or two at a time, and often strongest in the loft area.
- Sounds of fans or a consistent humming noise coming from the property, often heard strongest in the loft area
- Makeshift wiring or DIY electrical handy work noticed on the outside of the property.
PC Stubbings said: “Drugs production can also correlate to more serious, organised crime, and so not only are offenders creating a safety hazard, but they are also causing wider harm to communities.
"Therefore, it is something we take extremely seriously and work proactively through our Operation Reacher teams and proactive neighbourhood policing work to identify and intercept.
“We are asking people to keep their eyes out for a number of signs which could indicate that cannabis is being grown, and to report this where they suspect it is happening.”
After officers were called to Harwill Crescent it was discovered the electricity meter had been bypassed.
The set-up was later discovered to be the most likely cause of the fire, where the contents of the roof area were destroyed and two residential properties were significantly damaged.
Nobody was injured in the incident.
Area Manager Bryn Coleman, of Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, added: “This incident shows that inappropriate use of electrical systems or lighting can lead to devastating consequences for your home and surrounding neighbours; causing extensive damage and could even lead to loss of life.
“Six appliances responded to this incident and the swift action by our firefighters on scene prevented this fire from becoming worse than it was.”
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