21 cannabis farms found each day

Cannabis farm

An average of more than 21 cannabis factories were found daily in Britain last year, police chiefs say.

Officers confiscated marijuana in the UK with a street value of £100 million, according to an Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) report.

The number of farms discovered increased to 7,865, more than doubling in four years.

Greater Manchester Police has vowed to blight cannabis crops and weed out and imprison the criminals that sow fear and misery by setting up cannabis farms in local communities across the county. As part of a six force operation in the North West cannabis with an estimated street value of £9m was seized recently in a month-long operation targetting cultivation sites.

The UK is at "significant risk" from criminal gangs who cultivate cannabis on a commercial scale, says the Acpo report.

It estimates that the number of recorded cannabis production offences in the period from April 2011 to March 2012 will rise to 16,464, up from 14,982 in 2010-11.

In the last two years, police forces have seized 1.1 million cannabis plants.

The report also says that with the economic downturn and a reduction in amounts supplied by drug dealers, the number of personal use cultivation offences is rising. Police intelligence suggests the purchase of seeds and hydroponic equipment (for growing the plants without soil) is on the increase.