POLICE have today begun removing more than 5,000 cannabis plants from a drugs factory in Theydon Bois - which the Guardian can reveal is located at Blunts Farm.

The collection of drugs, in Coopersale Lane, is thought to be one of the largest ever discovered in Essex, and has a street value of over £1million.

The farm's co-owner Phil Newman told the Guardian he had only just discovered about the police raid, as he has been away on holiday.

He added that he did not know about the drugs and had been renting the warehouse to a group of men.

He said: "I didn't know anything about it.

"It's incredble the number of the plants. I can't believe it.

"They must have spent a fortune on it, there's lamps and vents everywhere. You have to see it to believe it."

Two men have been charged and a further two arrested over the drugs.

The police previously refused to tell the Guardian where the warehouse was located.

The farm has previously been the subject of controversy over a plan to host motorbike racing in its grounds, a proposed golf course and the illegal dumping of soil and waste at the site.