A Hyndburn councillor has praised the community after they helped police officers discover a sizeable cannabis farm last week, and urged more people to share information with police to uncover criminality.

Cllr Noordad Aziz said Hyndburn Police conducted great work last week to find a cannabis factory after they were alerted by a member of the community.

In a social media post, Cllr Aziz said: “Yesterday, I was called by the local policing team in Great Harwood after a tip from the local community led them to discovering a sizeable cannabis factory.

“This highlights what can be achieved when the community input is acted upon.

“It was a small but significant discovery that otherwise would have found its way on to the local streets.

“It was safely dismantled and destroyed with ongoing investigations.

“The only request for residents is if you are aware of any suspicious activity, please report it by calling 101.”

Since then, Cllr Aziz has spoken to the Lancashire Telegraph about how prevalent cannabis is in the area and nationally.

He said: “This was a community led initiative based on information supplied by the community.

“If people want to get rid of drugs within society they need to be working with the police and reporting issues on things that they have witnessed or things that appear that are out of the ordinary.

“If the police get good intelligence, they will normally act and for me it highlights how the community can work with the police to improve our area.

“I think cannabis farms are an ongoing issue locally and I think they are an ongoing issue nationally.

"I think we are fighting a losing battle given the amount of farms that are being discovered; they are not going down, they are becoming more prevalent as a nationwide issue.

“If residents have any information to supply to the police, they should contact 101.”