A WOMAN caught growing thousands of pounds worth of cannabis plants has claimed the drugs were only for her 'personal use.'

Meena Kartara appeared at Oxford Crown Court yesterday having already admitted one count of producing a controlled drug of class B - cannabis.

The 47-year-old of Dudgeon Drive, Oxford, however claims the plants were not being grown on a 'commercial scale' and were only for her personal use.

At the hearing prosecutor Peter Walsh read out her 'basis of plea' - which sets out what she accepts and does not for the offence.

The court heard that Kartara claims the cannabis which was discovered on April 23 last year was for her own use as she was 'self medicating for mental health issues.'

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She added that since her arrest she had not taken any cannabis and she did not accept that the cannabis grown was on a 'commercial scale.'

Prosecutors said that that basis of plea was not accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service.

The court also heard that the total amount of drugs seized was valued at £16,000 wholesale and £40,000 on the street.

There were between three and four crops of the class B drug.

The case was adjourned for a Newton hearing - to decide the issue and the facts behind her basis of plea.

That hearing, expected to last two hours, will be held at the same court on November 7.

She was released on bail pending that hearing.