MORE than 500 cannabis plants with an estimated annual street value of £150,000 were seized by police in a raid on a property near Newport.

The haul of plants was seized from a rented outbuilding at the back of an isolated farm in Peterstone yesterday.

Officers raided the property at Sluice Farm, off Broad Street Common, Peterstone.

Neighbours reported seeing police officers swoop on the building yesterday afternoon.

Three men from Cardiff, aged 38, 32 and 31 were arrested on suspicion of cultivating cannabis.

The haul included around 200 mature plants ready for harvest and seedlings.

A police spokesman confirmed four officers raided the property at 10.30am after they received intelligence from a member of the public in the Pill area.

He said the search was carried out with the farmer's permission and a warrant was executed.

The cannabis was found in the locked building at the rear of the farm.

The seizure is the latest in a series around Gwent during the last year.

Just last week, firefighters uncovered a sizeable cannabis factory in a flat above the Bridge Inn pub, Chepstow, after being called to an incident.

Officers seized 46 cannabis plants in various stages of maturity, along with hydroponics equipment from the flat.