A VIETNAMESE cannabis farmer produced up to £800,000 worth of "weed" a year.

Illegal immigrant Hung Nguyen, 45, worked out of a four-bedroom house in Green Street Green until Bromley police received a tip-off from members of the public who were concerned about what was going on.

When officers raided the house, in Worlds End Lane, they found 712 cannabis plants in various stages of growth spread across all six rooms and the double garage.

The plants seized were worth about £200,000 and detectives reckoned that the factory would have been able to produce four harvests a year.

They also seized £50,000 worth of heating and lighting equipment, extraction pipes and fans used to produce the criminal crop.

Nguyen, who had entered the UK from Vietnam in the back of a lorry in July, was arrested during the raid in September.

He pleaded guilty to production of cannabis at Croydon Crown Court this month and was sentenced to 21 months in prison.

The judge recommended that he be deported after serving his sentence.

Det Con Chrissie Stevenson, of Bromley police’s CID task force, said after the hearing: “These cannabis factories are well organised and significant criminal acts.

“They are a danger to people, as factory cultivators bypass the electricity meter, stretching wires and cables around a property and creating a significant fire risk and danger of electrocution.

“Drugs are an area of concern to the public and this is frequently reflected in the public consultation conducted by our Safer Neighbourhood teams. This is a prime example of local officers working closely with detectives and members of the public to deliver the results that the Bromley community want.”

A second Vietnamese man named Bao Nguyen, no relation to Hung Ngugen, was also sentenced to 21 months in prison for running a cannabis factory.

The 45-year-old Vietnamese, who had come to the UK in the back of a lorry, grew a crop of 348 plants worth more than £100,000 in a semi-detached house, in Slades Drive, Chislehurst.

Nguyen pleaded guilty to production of cannabis at Croydon Crown Court and was recommended for deportation after serving his sentence.