The remains of what appears to be a large-scale domestic cannabis plantation have been dumped in a lane behind houses in the centre of a Welsh city.

Dozens of sacks containing plants, bottles of fertiliser, pots, soil, packaging and bamboo support canes – along with bin bags harvested cannabis leaves – were found in the Maindy area of Cardiff.

It is believed the Class-B flytipping was carried out on Friday night or the early hours of Saturday morning.

A man who lives and works in the area, and who wishes to remain anonymous, found the dumped rubbish and believes it is a former cannabis factory.

He said: “I went for my regular walk, and there is was – I couldn’t quite believe it.

“There’s no mistaking what it was – it’s an entire cannabis-growing set up, except the lights.

“There was a lot if it, so it must have taken a pretty big van or lorry to transport it all.

“It wasn’t there when I walked that way on Friday, so it must have been dumped that night.”

The resident – who works in the property rental business – said he tried to report the matter to police but after calling 999 and being told call 101 spent a frustrating few minutes trying to get through to an operator before hanging up.

He said: “I was concerned because there could have been all sorts dumped there, not just the plants themselves but bottles of chemicals, perhaps even weapons or something.

“Looking at the scale of the tipping, it must have come from a fairly substantial house with a good number of rooms – there are lots of properties like that rented out around here.

“Whoever was running the plantation obviously had to terminate it in a hurry.”