ONE of the biggest cannabis factories ever found in East Lancashire has been uncovered by police.

A three-storey terrace house in Belgrave Street, Brierfield, was found to contain at least 650 cannabis plants, worth up to tens of thousands of pounds.

Police raided the property after residents told them about a "strong smell" in the area.

A 39-year-old man has been arrested and released police bail pending further inquiries in connection with the find.

Police said the find in Brierfield was the biggest ever in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, and one of the largest hauls in East Lancashire.

PC Carl Pickles, Brierfield's community beat manager, said: "You could smell it two streets away.

"Obviously everything was ventilated so the fumes, which smelt strongly, were being blown out into the street.

"Literally all we had to do was follow our noses to the house.

"It smelled very strong, so we had a good idea that there was a lot in there, but we couldn't have known it was quite on this scale.

"I don't think you could get any more than that in a terrace house if you tried - it was on the ground floor, upstairs and in the attic as well.

"We won't know exactly how much it would all be worth on the street until its sent away to be tested for its quality, but it could be tens of thousands of pounds.

"All the plants are at different levels of maturity and we suspect that all of this was destined to be distributed around Pendle, although inquiries are ongoing."

Along with the plants, police seized thousands of pounds worth of equipment.

Inspector Russ Proctor thanked residents who had raised the alarm.

He said: "A very large amount of cannabis that would have gone in to the streets of Brierfield and Nelson has been taken out of circulation, so this has been a very positive result for us.