A LARGE-scale cannabis factory was discovered in two neighbouring Oldbury houses capable of producing more than £70,000 worth of the drug a year.

Property owner Carl Berry was jailed for four and a half years after admitting producing cannabis and possessing the drug with intent to supply.

The court was told the 51-year-old played a leading role in the racket, while his tenant Baldev Deshi operated under his control.

Deshi, aged 47, who moved from the scene of the crime in Primrose Bank to Foley Road, Washwood Heath, Birmingham, admitted the same two charges and was jailed for a year.

Police found a sophisticated £3,000 hydroponic set-up to grow cannabis and more than a kilo of the harvested drug when they raided a house in Primrose Bank and arrested Deshi.

Berry, who was acting suspiciously in the next door property, was also arrested and officers found another £3,000 hydroponic system and 62 cannabis plants capable of an annual production of up to £70,000 worth of the drug annually.