POLICE officers, acting as part of Operation Rapier in the Forest of Dean, have seized more than 70 cannabis plants from a mini 'farm' in Sedbury, and have arrested a man.

The raid was executed on a house in Edmund Road last Thursday afternoon, where officers found plants and dried cannabis in the garage. A 51-year-old man was arrested, and later bailed to attend Gloucester police station on July 16 -– pending further inquiries.

PS Duncan Sleeman of Gloucestershire Constabulary, said: "Seventy one plants were confiscated. There were over 20 mature plants, 40 in a mid-stage of growth, and the rest were seedlings."

He added: "If this set up had gone on to give a crop of fully grown plants a conservative estimate of value on the streets would be £12,000 to £21,000.

"This is yet another piece of good work by the team. The community is reacting brilliantly to the operation and law abiding residents have been very happy to see us wherever we have gone. I hope it encourages people to carry on giving us information. Where we have information we can act on, we will."

The raid comes after the Forest has been the subject of two large drug raids in the last two months. Officers attending what seemed to be a burglary at a house on Plump Hill back at the beginning of April, later found what they believed to be an underground cannabis factory in the property. Two arrests were made and later released on police bail pending further enquiries on June 4.

Less than three weeks later, two men were arrested after police raided a derelict garage on Church Road in Cinderford where they seized approximately 100 plants and related equipment.

Operation Rapier which is a system that is evident across the country came to the Forest a year ago. It gives residents the opportunity to report their suspicions of drug crime to officers so they can get a warrant to raid the suspected property in question.

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Constabulary, said: "The figures show an upturn in the number of plants seized but the truth is that a single warrant can yield a huge quantity of cannabis and skew the figures.

"We judge our success by the regularity of successful warrants we are carrying out and the impact they are having in our communities and, in the last year, we have been checking as many properties as we ever have done with the help of our crime operations unit.

"Many members of the public have been coming forward to give us information, which in itself is a sign people have the confidence that we will act on their concerns.

"We will continue to carry out these operations and remain committed to identifying drugs offences and taking them off our streets so they can't cause any harm."

Anyone wishing to report offences can call 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.