FIVE people have been arrested after police found a subterranean cannabis factory with a street value of £100,000 in rural Worcestershire.

Gloucestershire Police, with support from West Mercia Police and Gwent Police, executed warrants in the three force areas on Friday as part of an operation to tackle drugs offences.

A raid in a remote area near Tenbury Wells uncovered a subterranean cannabis factory containing more than 200 plants.

The street value of the drugs found is thought to be about £100,000.

Four men were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to produce cannabis, a class B drug, including a 32-year-old man from Herefordshire, a 58-year-old man from Gwent, a 35-year-old man from Gloucester and a 22-year-old man from Gloucester. A 29-year-old Gloucester woman was also arrested on suspicion of possessing a class A drug.

The four men have been bailed to return to the police station in September pending further inquiries, and the woman was bailed until August.

Speaking after the operation, DCI Marc Flannery from Gloucestershire Constabulary said: "Our actions on Friday should act as a warning to those involved in the cultivation of cannabis that no location is safe from discovery.

"We will continue to work closely with our colleagues in West Mercia and Gwent to combat organised crime."