TWO men caught minding an "industrial scale" cannabis factory in a former Wigton bank have been jailed.

Carlisle Crown Court heard that a police raid on the former Barclays Bank in King Street in October last year uncovered a huge and sophisticated cannabis growing operation, complete with growing lamps, hydroponic watering and feeding systems, and plants worth £184,000.

In total, there was 18.5 kilos of cannabis, the court heard.

The operation was being carried out in no fewer than nine rooms, the court heard.

The operations two 'gardeners' - 27-year-old Arnaldo Lleshhi and his co-defendant Xhulio Mezuri, 28 - pleaded guilty to producing the class B drug.

Prosecutor Tim Evans outlined how a neighbour raised the alarm after becoming suspicious as he heard extensive work being done in the building after it was sold and how the windows were blacked out.

"He [the neighbour] could hear... the sound of fans running and the buzzing of electricity all the time."

Mr Evans said police had arrested Lleshhi inside the building and Mezuri as he was leaving just outside the property.

In total, said Mr Evans, police recovered 460 cannabis plants from inside the building.

That was capable of yielding 18,400g of the Class B drug.

Also inside the property police found a makeshift living quarters for the two defendants, complete with a washer dryer, beds and a "well-stocked" freezer.

Sean Harkin, for Lleshhi, said his client had played an extremely limited role. Having incurred a debt to the people who trafficked him into the UK from his native Albania, Lleshhi was "under pressure", said Mr Harkin.

"They're not likely to be very pleasant people," said Mr Harkin, adding that Lleshhi had not previous convictions.

Jon Close, for Mezuri, said the scale of the operation was "significant" rather than industrial.

He said his client was involved "through exploitation".

The barrister also described the living conditions in the bank as "squalor."

Recorder Simon Killeen said both men, who were illegal immigrants from Albania, had clearly understood the scale of the operation. "The operation was before their very eyes; they were living in it," he said.

He jailed Lleshhi for 18 months and Mezuri for 23 months.