Greater Manchester is the cannabis capital of Britain

Cannabis farm

Greater Manchester is the cannabis capital of Britain with almost a thousand plants seized by police every week, it has emerged.

Officers seized 51,000 cannabis plants last year, according to the Home Office, with one plant confiscated on average every ten minutes.

Greater Manchester Police made more than 9,000 drugs seizures in the region in 2012/13, including 58.9kg of cocaine – a six-fold rise on the previous year.

They also seized 42kg of amphetamines and 90kg of heroin, compared with 5.5kg of heroin in the previous year.

But the biggest haul was in cannabis. In addition to the 51,000 plants seized, officers also seized 217kg of herbal cannabis and 131kg of cannabis resin.

The figures also show the force is taking a gram of cannabis resin off the streets on average every four minutes, a gram of heroin every six minutes, and a gram of cocaine every nine minutes.