A CANNABIS farm worth thousands of pounds was found after the smell of the plants caught officers' attention.

Officers had been patrolling Atlas Street, Darwen, yesterday morning as part of a community clean up operation when they noticed a pungent smell coming from an end terraced house.

Support officers deployed to the area under Operation Titan - which sees police flood an area in a 'flash' crackdown on crime - returned to the scene in the afternoon and used a battering ram to bring down the property's back door.

Almost 100 plants were found in two first floor bedrooms that had been decked out with high-tech cultivating equipment.

The property's electricity meter had been by-passed and power was being stolen from the grid to grow the plants, police said.

Sergeant Steve Bury, of the operations support unit, said: "The plants look to be about four-six weeks old and we believe there has been at least one harvest, as there were around 20 binbags full of plant cuttings in the front room.

“If this had not been discovered the grower could have been harvesting thousands of pounds worth of cannabis."

Police Constable Paul Schofield, community safety partnership officer, added: "This is a significant find for us as no doubt these drugs would have been sold on in the Darwen area."

No one has been arrested in connection with the find and officers are trying to trace those responsible.

Operation Titan uses officers who would otherwise be tied up with paperwork in different parts of the county to get back on the streets and focus on areas undergoing specific problems.

The Suddelside area was chosen for the latest Titan hit in order to coincide with the Beatsweep community clean up.

Beatsweep is part of Operation Summer Nights' wider series of activities designed to cut down on anti-social behaviour and improve conditions in Blackburn and Darwen’s communities.