THE crackdown on cannabis farms is certainly showing results. Officers raided 20 make-shift ‘factories’ in all corners of the county between April 2009 and April 2010.

And six have already been shut since April this year.

The message is to stay alert to what is going on in your street.

It may not necessarily be someone pitching up with a bag of fertiliser slung over the shoulder.

Our story today details what to look out for.

Oxford has a lot of homes which are rented out and the potential for conversion into cannabis farms poses problems for landlords.

Many would be oblivious to what is going on in their own properties.

It is not a case of a few fans and heaters knocking out a few cannabis plants. These are complex factories, which – in one year – have generated drugs worth more than £1m in this area that we know about.

Police are hopeful they are winning the battle against cannabis farms.

Let us hope they are not just firefighting.