Cannabis and drugs equipment worth £200k seized

Cannabis plants and equipment with an estimated value of more than £200,000 have been seized by police.

Northumbria Police said it had found 250 plants in the loft and one of the rooms of a property in Gateshead, where the electrics had also been bypassed.

Nobody was found inside the address at St Albans Crescent in Windy Nook, and police said inquiries were ongoing to locate those responsible.

Insp Haley Lightburn from the Gateshead Neighbourhood Policing Team said: "We will not tolerate drug-related activity in our communities."

Working in partnership with the council, police secured a closure order on the address for at least three months, which is used to prohibit people from entering the property.

Lightburn said working with the council meant they could "safeguard residents, reduce crime, and address the wider harm these premises can cause".

"No-one wants criminality such as this on their doorstep, and we will continue to do everything we can to put a stop to it," she said.

Samantha Allcott, strategic director for housing, environment and health communities at Gateshead Council, called it a "positive result".

"Investigating these cases takes valuable officer time and resources that could be spent on other frontline services, which is why we are committed to taking an intelligence-led approach to disrupting criminal networks - making offenders think twice about operating in our borough," she said.

"This action acts as a deterrent to those seeking to exploit our communities."

Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.