1,000 cannabis plants uncovered in secret drugs farm on Doncaster industrial estate

We discovered a cannabis cultivation set up on Bankwood Industrial Estate, Rossington, last week – almost 1,000 plants were recovered, the biggest seizure this month. No arrests have been made yet and enquiries continue.

Three men were detained at another smaller cannabis cultivation on Goodison Boulevard, Cantley, on April 25. And when officers attended a property on Liverpool Avenue, Wheatley, on May 5, a man fled a building containing 150 cannabis plants.

I thank all who have stuck to the guidance during lockdown. Sadly, not everyone has and we have issued 72 tickets to individuals for breaching the legislation.

When lockdown was initially introduced, we saw a fall in residential burglaries whilst commercial burglaries increased.

We have had successes addressing these increases; On May 4, we arrested six people involved in three separate burglaries – three after a shed was attacked in Wheatley, two for entering a house on Bennetthorpe and one for a commercial burglary on Silver Street. We also arrested two men on April 24 on suspicion of burglary in the town centre. After an attempted burglary at another town centre shop, CCTV helped identify suspects, with one arrested. And a man was arrested for a historic burglary at a town centre fast food outlet.

Another authorised pursuit happened on April 19 involving a motorcycle in Cantley. Two were detained when the vehicle was stopped.

The next day, two men were detained on White Rose Way because of their driving. Cannabis was seized.

Our bike team have been visiting Doncaster regularly and on May 3, stopped a quad bike on the old Rossington pit top. A warning notice was issued and the rider reported for breaching COVID regulations. A child’s motorbike was stopped at the Rossington duck ponds and the parent also received tickets. They later stopped six bikes on the sand quarry off Great North Road. All received the same kind of notices and one rider was reported for riding with no licence or insurance. We also seized an off-road bike on St Peters Road in Balby on May 4 following complaints from the public.

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