Pair were dismantling cannabis farm when Durham Police raided village premises

EVIDENCE of what appeared to have been a “substantial” cannabis farm was found by police in living quarters above a village barber’s shop.

As officers arrived to search the premises, in Ushaw Moor, on March 2 this year, two men present, Albanian nationals Ardit Bytyci and Anolit Domi, were in the throes of dismantling the growing equipment.

Durham Crown Court heard that the property was let to Bytyci to run a hairdressing business.

But on the first floor it appeared that all four rooms had been used for the growth of cannabis, each with the electricity meter bypassed to provide a free power supply.