FIREFIGHTERS have found a cannabis farm with a potential street value of £10,000.

Crews were called to the Milltown estate in Radcliffe town centre just before 9pm last night, after a neighbour spotted smoke coming out of the roof of a terraced house in Milltown Close.

No one was in so firefighters broke down the front door of the property, discovering a cannabis farm of about 40 plants in an upstairs bedroom.

The fire had been burning for at least two hours and had burned a hole in the bedroom floor.

It took firefighters an hour and a half to put out the blaze, which left the upstairs of the property full of smoke.

The crew believed it started when one of the heat lamps fell over against a flammable surface. Neighbouring homes were unaffected.

Police also attended and are investigating the incident. A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "We were called to Milltown Close at 9.20pm.

"The fire was not suspicious but the empty property contained about 40 cannabis plants which had already been cultivated.

"Enquiries are ongoing."

Officers said they estimate each plant was worth approximately £250, meaning the farm had a street value of around £10,000.

It is believed the plants were either damaged by the fire or had been recently harvested.

A spokesman for Six Town Housing said: "This is not one of our properties, but is a private property in the middle of one of our estates.

"The police called us to secure the property for them."

Neighbour Thomas Bolton, aged 18, said he believed the house had lain empty since the previous neighbours moved out last year.

Thomas, a student, said: “We didn’t smell smoke or anything – the first we heard of it was when we saw the fire engine turn up. I never would have suspected there was a cannabis farm in there.”

But another neighbour, who did not wish to be named, said despite the property looking empty she believed a man in his thirties had been living there in recent months.

She said: “The house looked empty but I saw a man going in and out a few times – everyone said he kept himself to himself.

“Something similar happened about three years ago, when another cannabis farm was found on the estate.”

A resident of nearby Irwell Close added: “It is so lucky the fire did not spread, otherwise this could have been much more serious.”