POLICE stormed a caravan and discovered a cannabis cultivation outfit in one of the bedrooms with a potential yield of £25,000.

Ten officers raided the mobile home in Bastonford, off the A449 between Worcester and Malvern, before 9am today. Officers rushed from marked and unmarked cars and hopped a wooden fence before they used lock snappers to gain entry through a side door.

During the raid, part of Operation Fuchsia, local policing officers worked with Pro-active CID to get a result after acting on intelligence from the public. They found nine 'decent-sized' cannabis plants and arrested a 27-year-old man on suspicion of the cultivation of cannabis, leading him away in handcuffs. The suspect , who did not resist officers, had been in bed when police arrived and had to be given time to dress before he was led away to a van. During the raid he was warned to stay where he was as officers broke their way in. He was taken back to Worcester Police Station to be interviewed. PC Sarah Ransome-Williams of the Kempsey and Powick policing team was at the raid together with members of Proactive CID, community support officers and sniffer dogs.

Officers also found £750 worth of cannabis bush in the kitchen. The plants themselves were in a second bedroom which also had a poster on the wall featuring photographs of different types of cannabis plants. Lights, fans, heaters and ducting were seized and will be destroyed as police continue to send a stern message to anyone involved in drugs.

Detective sergeant Dave Knight of Proactive CID said: "The cultivation, sale and use of cannabis has a detrimental effect on society. Some users will commit acquisitive crime to fund their habit. We are executing more warrants like this. People who cultivate or deal drugs have nowhere to hide. We will continue working with the public to keep the streets of Worcester free of drugs. The drugs we have seized today and all the cannabis equipment will be destroyed."

He said intelligence from the public was very important to successfully tackle drugs and urged members of the public to call him or one of his colleagues on the West Mercia Police non-emergency telephone number 101 if they had information.

The force has won already won praise from a Government minister after the success of Operation Fuchsia.

Policing minister Mike Penning said the operation is a great example of how forces can target the drug world.

When the operation was at its height earlier this month officers kitted in balaclavas and protective gear smashed their way into one flat using chainsaws in Randwick Drive, Warndon, Worcester to make three arrests.