Six men involved in a multi-million pound drugs plot based at a secluded Cumbrian mansion have been sent to prison for almost 40 years.

They were members of a criminal gang which was said to have turned the Grade II-listed Flass House into a massive cannabis factory.

Away from prying eyes in the picturesque village of Maulds Meaburn, near Penrith, the men assumed vital roles in a huge criminal enterprise.

A police expert has estimated that during 13 months up to May, 2012, 263kg of cannabis could have been grown inside the house which a potential street value of between £2.6 million and £5.26m.

After a lengthy and painstaking Cumbria police investigation, six of eight gang members were sentenced today at Carlisle Crown Court after admitting or being found guilty of conspiracy to supply cannabis bush.

Jailing the men for a total of more than 39 years, Judge Paul Batty QC told them: "You selected this property carefully and with precision with this criminal enterprise in mind."

The men sentenced were:

Dean Cameron, 53, Whitehall Park Road, London, eight years in prison Charles Neophytou, 47, Hutton Grove, London, five-and-a-half years Philip Branigan, 32, Hillside Close, Banstead, Surrey, seven years Mark Gallagher, 49, Wolverhampton Road East, Wolverhampton, four years for the Flass conspiracy and three years for other drugs offences David Lawrence, 32, Barton Meadows, Ilford, eight years. Paul Davies, 64, Queens Road, Southport, three years eight months.

Two other members of the cannabis gang will be sentenced at a later date.

They are Lee Banks, 32, Caversham Road, London, and Paul Whelan, 50, Winterthur Way, Basingstoke.