A CANNABIS farm was discovered at an Evenwood Gate property last week after the house was broken into by thieves.
Police received reports of the burglary after neighbours noticed that the door had been kicked in.
Cannabis leaves were strewn across the entrance of the home and out onto the pavement alongside the A688.
A police spokesman said: “Officers attended and discovered a cannabis farm spread across two floors of the building, made up of approximately 100 plants along with associated growing equipment.
“Officials from NEDL (Northern Powergrid) attended the building to carry out an electrical check and the plants were removed.
“A police investigation into both the cultivation of cannabis and the burglary is underway.
“Officers have carried out a detailed forensic examination of the scene along with house-to-house enquiries in the area.”
Neighbour John Wallace said it was the first time in the 54 years that he had lived in the village that anything like this had happened.
He added: “I went to Bishop (Auckland) in the morning and saw the door was down. When I came back, I saw the mess in front of the house. I said to the wife ‘you should see the rubbish out here’.
“I didn’t know what it was. I presumed it was cannabis but I had never seen it before.”
Neighbours said they did not know the people who occupied the home.
Anyone with information can contact Durham Constabulary on 101 quoting incident 0117 of July 23.
