NEIGHBOURS of an historic home who battled to stop it being converted into flats have admitted their "astonishment" at learning it has been used as a cannabis factory.

The four bedroom property in Broomhill Walk in Woodford Green was raided early on Saturday, March 22, by officers who found up to 300 of the illegal plants growing inside.

Despite recovering the large haul, police have not arrested anyone in connection with the plants, and they do not know who was growing them.

However, they are keen to speak to the owner of the house, Sajjad Sain, who is believed to own multiple properties across east London.

Neighbours said they were baffled to hear of the raid, and said they had had no idea what was going on inside.

One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "I am very surprised. We never saw people coming in and out of the house. The owner was never there."

But he criticised the authorities for ignoring the worries of local people.

"The police wouldn't tell us anything, and the council didn't even know about it," he said.

"There could have been anything going on in there. It's the police's job to tell us. My family and our next door neighbours were all very worried for our safety but they wouldn't tell us anything."

It was only on March 11 that Redbridge Council turned down a planning application for flats in Broomhill Walk, which would have required the house to be knocked down.

Campaigners had said the flats would spoil the character of the area, and had bombarded council officials with objections to the plans.

A police spokeswoman said: "Inside we found plants in the garage and there was also an upstairs area.

"The plants were between one and three feet high and we also found some harvested crops in bags and paraphernalia used for growing the plants such as lights."

She added that the raid was conducted after they received a tip-off about the house.