POLICE who raided a terraced house in Nelson uncovered a "sophisticated drugs factory" which had taken over most of the house, a court heard.

Drugs experts estimated that each crop grown at the Whitworth Street home of 48-year-old Peter France would yield around £10,000 worth of cannabis, Burnley Crown Court was told.

And France has this week been jailed for three years and nine months for his crimes.

Air-conditioning units, fans and a ventilation system leading to up the attic were discovered during a search by East Lancashire police officers.

Cocaine and cannabis resin, in varying amounts, were found in plastic bags dotted around the property, while £2,215 was found in a safe under the stairs, £925 was in the pocket of a jacket, and £1,195 was discovered in loose change in a cupboard.

When police inspected a rear bedroom upstairs they found 46 cannabis plants, alongside a large number of electrical transformers, which controlled high-powered lights, on timer switches.

The court heard that France, a former fabricator at a Blackburn welding firm, had got into financial difficulties after taking out a £26,000 loan to modernise his home.

Being a long-time recreational user of drugs, he knew dealers and succumbed to temptation and set up his own drugs-growing operation to try and relieve his debt burdens, the court was told.

But Judge Norman Wright told him: "You have been involved with drugs for a long time and you must have known what the likely outcome would be."

The judge described his set-up as a "highly sophisticated" drugs factory.

France admitted cultivating cannabis, possession of cocaine with intent to supply, abstracting electricity, possession of amphetamines and possession of cannabis.

Prosecutor David Macro said a police drugs expert had analysed the equipment used by France, and the plants growing in the rear bedroom. One room acted as a nursery and the plants appeared to be developed in the other room.

Defence and prosecution experts had agreed that the yield from each crop was more than £10,000 - and France had confessed to growing cannabis for around six months before his arrest in February 2007.

Kenneth Hind, defending, said his client's life had fallen apart after his marriage had broken down in 2005 and his step-children had been taken into care.

He believed that one of the reasons why he had lost the children was the condition of his home so he took out a large loan to modernise it.

But he fell victim to depression and struggled to make the repayments on the debt and had started the cannabis growing operation, Mr Hind said.

Mr Hind said France admitted dealing in cocaine - but only to his friends.

The court heard that there will be a further hearing at the end of March to determine whether France profited from his drug dealing exploits. If he is found to have any assets they may be stripped from him by the courts.