Police discovered plants worth up to £1.3million growing in the town’s former social club

A man has been jailed after police discovered a massive cannabis farm, worth up to £1.3 million, in the centre of Axminster.

Reports of a strong smell from the crop led officers to raid the long-closed former Axe Vale Social Club, Exeter Crown Court was told.

They found so much growing equipment and plants spread over three floors, they had to close the road to remove it all.

Last week Albanian-born Erion Bardhi, 27, admitted producing 1,600 plants of cannabis and possessing a fake Italian driving licence.

Prosecutor Gordon Richings said the street value of the female cannabis plants was between £450,000 and £1,347,000.

Bardhi was jailed for three years and Judge Graham Cottle said he would be deported from the UK at the end of his sentence.

A local resident said: “It wasn’t hard for the cops to trace the cannabis factory because of the stink of pot. It was a huge operation with loads of plants.”