Police seized a haul of drugs with an estimated street value of £250,000 in a swoop on a disused lock up being used as a cannabis factory in Cleckheaton last night.

A team of officers under the command of Sergeant Nick Day of the Spen Valley Neighbourhood Policing Team led the operation, using a search warrant to raid a former motor accessories unit in Tofts Street at about 5pm.

For almost four hours the property was investigated in detail. Officers stood guard outside the premises while other officers carried out cannabis plants in various stages of growth.

Two and a half large skips were filled with equipment used for production of the Class C drug.

A stash of heating, lighting, ventilation and other electrical apparatus was removed systematically until about 9pm.

Sgt Day said it was too early to say how much the equipment was worth.

There was no one inside the building when the raid was executed and the suspects remain at large.

The lock-up was the subject of forensic examinations by Scenes of Crime officers who were searching for any clues which may connect the haul with the suspects.

At the conclusion of the raid, Sgt Day confirmed that about 230 suspected cannabis plants had been recovered and 180 seedlings. He said the police would continue to pursue those involved.

“We act on all information we receive in relation to any kind of drug production, whether it be cannabis or other stronger types of drugs,” he said.

“This is just an example of the type of information we are receiving on a regular basis and we will find the people who are responsible and deal with them appropriately.”

  • Read the full story Friday’s T&A