Other News In Brief

Cannabis Farm Discovered In Liverpool

Merseyside Police has launched an investigation after the discovery of a cannabis farm with nearly 400 plants in St Helens on Thursday 5 February.

At about 9.45am, police executed a Misuse of Drugs Act warrant at an address on Albion Street, St Helens where the cannabis plants in various stages of growth were discovered in three upstairs bedrooms and a loft.

A total of 372 plants, with an estimated annual yield of nearly £1.5m, were removed from the property as well as sophisticated hydroponic growing equipment. The electricity was also found to have been illegally bypassed.

Detectives would like to speak to a man, described as Asian and about 5ft 6in tall, who had been seen entering and leaving the rented property over the past few weeks.

Man Charged Over Eight Counts Of Arson

A man has been charged with eight counts of arson.

Carl Hedgecock of Firth Close, Salford, has been charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life, three counts of arson reckless as to whether life would be endangered and two counts of attempted arson.

He appeared before Manchester and Salford Magistrates Court this morning, Friday 6 February, and was remanded into custody pending a Crown Court appearance.

At around 4am on Sunday 1 February 2015, police and the fire service were called to an address on Duncombe Street, Higher Broughton after a house was set ablaze.

An hour later, the occupants of a small block of flats on Great Cheetham Street East were woken by a loud bang and found that a fire had been lit in the communal stairwell.

On the following morning, at 7am, police and the fire service were called to an address on Devonshire Street, Higher Broughton, after a house and vehicle were set ablaze.

Greens To Build 500,000 Social Homes

The Green Party has pledged to build 500,000 social rented homes by 2020.

The Party plans to increase the social housing budget from £1.5bn per year to £6bn by 2017. It will reform landlord tax allowances to incentivise good practice rather than profits, and scrap buy-to-let mortgage interest relief. It will also remove the borrowing caps from local councils.

Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, said: "We need to move away from regarding houses as primarily financial assets and go back to regarding them as homes. This policy is an important step in that direction.

"Landlords have been receiving massive public subsidies through tax breaks and housing benefits, and this is contributing to the rising, unsustainable level of inequality in our society."

(CD/JP)