20 hours Ago
A large number of cannabis plants have been seized by Essex Police as they spent more than 12 hours clearing drugs from a flat in Castle Lane, Hadleigh. According to residents, police arrived at the scene at roughly 2am yesterday morning and armed police officers were spotted chasing a man - allegedly armed with a weapon - through back gardens. Police dogs and a police helicopter were also reportedly on the scene.
Police remained at the address yesterday afternoon as they removed what appeared to be hundreds of cannabis plants from the drugs farm. Multiple officers remained at the home removing cannabis from the property and placing it in evidence bags. Despite being contacted by the Echo, Essex Police’s press office was unable to confirm specific details on arrests or the number of plants seized yesterday evening.
Jane Hearn, 33, who lives next door to the property which was raided, described how she heard “lots of ruckus” and called the event “quite scary”. She said: “I heard armed police officers declaring they were there, and lots of ruckus. “This is quite scary and sad that it’s happened next door, it wasn’t very nice to experience.
I’m just glad it looks like it’s over. “It’s just so shocking to hear and see all that.” Officers could be seen filling evidence bags with cannabis from what was described as a “gigantic grow” by police to the surprise of those living on the street.
Husband and wife, Neil and Janet Martin, who live on the street, were woken up by the “commotion”. Neil said: “A person spotted going over a roof was armed from what we’ve heard. “That’s where this all started, it’s an inconvenience.
The smell from the property is terrible. “We don’t know if they were caught. You would not expect something like this to happen on this road.
” Janet said: “I saw an armed police officer with a dog, I heard them shouting ‘show yourself’. “I watched them go into the property with guns. “The smell was so bad when they were bringing it all out, the bedrooms still smell.
” Michael Monk, 78, who lives further down the road, said he and his wife had heard something in the night but were shocked to find police removing drugs. He said: “My wife said she heard something at 2am, she heard a big crash. I was told by my neighbours police were climbing on the roof of a building holding guns.
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