TWO drug growers caught when police raided a barn at a farm in Herefordshire have been jailed for almost two years.

Police found 353 cannabis plants when they raided the farm building near Ross-on-Wye, Worcester Crown Court heard.

The two growers, Luke Arnold and Jack Thompson, had been renting the building at Phocle Green Farm, with Arnold using a fake name on documents.

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Judge James Burbidge said both men played a significant role in the growing of cannabis, with plants found in various stages of growth at the farm – including 4.4kg of harvested skunk with a street value of up to £39,000.

Thompson, 34, was also found to have 24 plants at his home in St Denis Road, Birmingham.

The judge said it was a commercial cannabis factory and the pair ran a large and well-organised operation which was sophisticated and planned. He said the set-up was found upstairs in a barn.

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Lee Egan, for Thompson, said he had no previous convictions, was a part-time carer for his daughter and his grandmother was on end-of-life care.

Lucy Taylor, for Arnold, said the 37-year-old, of Fellows Lane, Birmingham, had no relevant or recent convictions and he looked after his son who has mild autism.

She said he had also recently started up a tyre recycling business.

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But the judge said the offences were so serious only a custodial sentence was appropriate.

Thompson was jailed for a total of one year and nine months for two counts of producing class B drug cannabis and one count of possessing criminal property, having been found with £1,155 cash.

Arnold was jailed for the same length of time for one count of producing class B drug cannabis and one count of possessing criminal property, having been found with £530 in cash.