Furious Wakefield landlord called police "at least eight times" over missed cannabis operation

Glyn Cooper says he has been left with a clean-up bill and lost rent arrears totalling £20,000 because of the drug factory set up at the house on Brook Crescent, just off Barnsley Road.

The tenant recently moved out but left a trail of destruction, including broken windows, furniture and water damage to the ceiling after a hole was made in the bath.

The cannabis farm had been removed, but there was evidence of the illegal plants strewn around the house and cannabis leaf matter and soil found throughout.

The electricity had been bypassed with holes drilled into walls for the extraction units to help the plants grow, with the pungent smell of the drug lingering throughout the five-bedroom property.

Mr Cooper says he was tipped off by neighbours about the suspicious activities at the house, including vans regularly attending to load up bags, along with the obvious odours.

Details, photos and even videos were passed to Mr Cooper, who then forwarded them onto police earlier this year.

He then made subsequent calls over the months pleading with them to take action.

Mr Cooper, who has since put in an official complaint against West Yorkshire Police, said: "The house has been absolutely trashed.

"The cannabis farm was first reported over four months ago, with a further eight reports.

"I gave it all to them on a plate, and they allowed this criminal gang to continue making vast amounts of money and writing off the property.

"This could have been prevented and the culprits caught red-handed.

"We have lost the opportunity to prosecute them over this, the best I can hope for is criminal damage.

"The lack of attention officers have given over the past few months has been nothing less than disgraceful. I'm furious about it.

"They not only let me down they put the residents in reach of these parasites, and endangered their lives for doing the right thing and speaking out and taking a risk, for what?"

But West Yorkshire Police's Chief Inspector Chris Raby maintains the details they were passed were "insufficient" for a warrant.

He said: “This landlord did completely the right thing reporting his concerns to us and I would like to reassure him that we were actively trying to build up evidence to support an investigation.

“I understand and sympathise with his frustrations regarding this case.

"Unfortunately, with the limited information that we had at the time there was insufficient intelligence to obtain a warrant to search this address.

“Officers initially received a report in April that there was a smell of cannabis at the property and that a number of bin bags had been taken from the address.

"A number of enquiries were completed to gather vital witness evidence but no further information was provided to support a warrant."