POLICE found a thriving cannabis factory when they answered an alarm call to a Kidderminster house saying there had been an attempted overdose.

The house in Lorne Street was empty but they found 47 plants in the cellar and another 45 in the attic, Worcester Crown Court was told.

If all the plants had come to maturity there would have been a yield worth £90,000, said prosecutor Ian Ball.

Neil Upton arrived two hours after the police on March 27 and was arrested. He said he was proud of the plants he had grown.

Upton,  32, now of Franche Road, Kidderminster, pleaded guilty to growing cannabis and abstracting electricity. He was jailed for two years and three months.

He was said to have 67 previous convictions, but none involving drugs. His counsel, Jason Aris, said he had tried to get work after serving a 10-year sentence for arson but his record had always been against him.

His partner was now pregnant and she and his mother, who suffered from illhealth, were dependant upon him. There had been a degree of sophistication in bypassing the electricity meter and Upton was not qualified to do this.

Judge Michael Cullum said there had been a concerted and serious attempt to produce a haul of cannabis, which could have yielded £30,000 for a single crop. Although Upton must have had help in setting up the plant, he still played a significant role.