Police recovered around 300 cannabis plants from two adjoining terraced houses in Montagu Street, Kettering, on Saturday.

Officers have today urged landlords to be on their guard for suspicious activity following the latest discovery of another cannabis factory in the county.

Raj Kooner, whose wife and cousin own the two properties in Montagu Street, said it would cost him about £10,000 to repair the damage done by the occupants.

They had only recently been refurbished and the drug dealers destroyed a new bathroom and damaged a new kitchen, carpets and walls.

The tenants had created an escape route between the two houses through one of the house's cellar.

They also left a tray of rotting fish by the front door to try to disguise the smell of cannabis.

A makeshift alarm system consisted of a line of empty cans hanging on string by the bathroom window, which would crash onto the bath and alert the occupants should anyone try to break in.

Mr Kooner said he first heard about what had happened through a customer who came into his chip shop.

He said: "A customer told me something was going on in Montagu Street and when I looked outside there were a lot of police officers outside the houses.

"I'm devastated to see the houses in this condition and shocked this was going on."

He said the occupants had taken on a tenancy about 18 months ago and
always came to him to pay their rent a few days before it was due.

Mr Kooner said: "Looking back, they might have done that so I didn't go round to collect it. If you have tenants who pay on time you leave them to it."

He said the clean-up operation would start immediately.

Police reminded private landlords to be vigilant by carrying out regular inspections at their properties.

DC Paul Coleman said: "Cannabis factories can cause extensive damage to premises.

"I have shown several landlords around cannabis factories and they have all been very shocked to see the true extent of damage and what it
costs to put right."


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