A TEENAGER has been arrested after police found more than 400 plants at a cannabis farm, worth an estimated £1.6 million.

Officers discovered 402 cannabis plants at an address on Station Road, Haydock following the execution of a Misuse of Drugs Act warrant.

The plants were recovered alongside growing equipment and the electricity was found to have been illegally bypassed.

The scene has been secured to enable officers to recover the cannabis and forensically examine the scene.

A 15-year-old male has been arrested on suspicion of cultivation of cannabis and taken to a police station

Sergeant Stephanie Barcroft said: "Every single cannabis farm we seize and every arrest we make marks another step in our efforts to disrupt the activities of criminals growing cannabis in Merseyside.

"Cannabis cultivation by criminal gangs can cause serious harm in our communities and we know criminal groups involved in the cultivation of cannabis are usually involved in other serious organised crime.

"The growing of cannabis also threatens the safety of neighbouring properties because cannabis farms are a serious fire risk.

"Electricity and water are never a good combination, and fires have been caused by the crude systems put in place by the people who set up these farms.

"Our communities can help us stop these groups, who are only interested in making money, from turning houses and flats into potential death traps.

“Nobody wants to live next door to these houses and we would ask that if you believe someone is using a property for this purpose, please tell us so we can take positive action and find those responsible for setting them up."

Some of the signs that cannabis is being grown are:

• Strange smells and sounds

• Frequent and varied visitors to a property, often at unusual times

• Gardening equipment being taken into a property, such as plant pots, fertiliser, fans and industrial lighting

• Windows are sealed and covered or the curtains are permanently closed

• Heat from an adjoining property

• Birds gathering on a roof in cold weather

• Individually these activities may seem commonplace, however, together may indicate something more sinister

Anyone with any information can call police on 101, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.