Three men have been arrested after a suspected cannabis factory was discovered in a St Albans road on Monday.

Police officers from the Operation Scorpion team which deals with burglary, robbery and drug crime, went into a house in Lawrance Road on the New Green Estate at around 11am where they arrested three Vietnamese men for the cultivation of cannabis.

Around 450 plants were discovered at various stages of maturity in the house and the plants have now been seized.

Le-Ben Vung, 42, Nhat-Tien Lam, 19, and Hung Vu,24, all of no fixed address, appeared at Hatfield Remand Court on Tuesday and have been remanded in custody until they appear at St Albans Crown Court on August 12.

PC Mike Holihead from the Operation Scorpion Team said: “Cannabis has a strong smell. If you suspect a neighbour may be involved in drugs, please call us. We are always gathering intelligence on cannabis cultivation.

“Whilst this is not a major issue in St Albans we are determined to disrupt this this type of crime by continuing to target those involved in the supply of drugs and related crimes across the county.

“This operation has dealt a huge blow to those involved in the supply of drugs and we’ve managed to seize a large amount of cannabis that would have been sold locally.”

Anyone who suspects cannabis is being grown in their neighbourhood should contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or call the police non-emergency number 101.