POLICE discovered a £100,000 cannabis factory in a second Swindon raid of its kind in the last four days.

Six officers in four patrol cars swooped on a semi-detached house in Alfred Street to find 350 plants in various stages of growth in five rooms.

A man, of oriental appearance and in his early 20s, was taken away from the town centre property for questioning at Gablecross Police Station.

He was apparently living in a tent in the kitchen as police burst in through the front and rear of the house at about 3pm.

The successful raid comes after a £500,000 cannabis factory was found by police on the junction of Morley Street and Commercial Road on Tuesday.

Two Vietnamese men – Tuan Le, 20, and Quoc Nguyen, 40 – were arrested and later charged with cultivating 2,000 plants.

Police would not be drawn on whether the two drugs factories were linked.

Last night PC Joe Tompkinson, a response officer for Swindon Police, said: “The discovery of this cannabis factory in Alfred Street is a direct result of community intelligence.

“The tip boosted our previous knowledge of the house and we acted on it straight away.

“Blinds were closed 24/7 over a significant period of time and there is condensation on the windows.

“The house was put under surveillance before we went in.”

PC Tompkinson added: “The man believed to be cultivating the crop is known as a ‘gardener’, but he is a very small cog in a very large machine.”

The electricity board will be called to secure the house. Then the Crime Scene Investigation team will carry out their search of the premises before the cannabis crop is destroyed.

Police are keen to stress that the public’s help is key factor when identifying drug factories.

If you have information about illegal drug activity call 0845 408 7000 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.