Cannabis factory capable of producing drugs worth £250,000 a year is raided by police after travellers seen buying large amounts of compost from local garden centre

Giant cannabis factory found at £1m taxpayer-funded gypsy camp

A gypsy community given more than £1m in public money to improve their caravan site turned it into a giant cannabis factory.Police raided the camp and found a well-organised operation capable of producing cannabis with a street value of £250,000 a year.The site received a government grant of £1.3m in 2011 to refurbish the site and build a community centre for its 120 residents.But officials were tipped off that the caravan dwellers were seen buying large amounts of compost and gardening equipment from a local garden centre.

Cannabis was found growing in 12 of the 24 caravan plots on the three-acre Glynmill Gypsy and Traveller Site in Merthyr Tyfdil, South Wales.