A DRUG user set up a 250-plant cannabis factory at his home because he could not afford to pay dealers, a court heard.

Father-of-two Paul Holland, 21, who had been smoking the drug since he was just 10, was said to suffer depression and had been on state handouts since he left school.

Holland, who had also been a drinker since he was 13, had been arrested after police raided his home in Church and found the drugs growing.

The defendant, of The Copse, Accrington, was given 26 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, with 12 months supervision and 80 hours unpaid work. He must pay £100 costs.

Police executed a search warrant at his home at the time in Victoria Street, Church, last December.

He was not there, but 250 cannabis plants were growing in a bedroom.

None of them were anywhere near maturity.