THE landlord of a Stanmore house where police discovered a "massive" cannabis factory said he was "shocked" to discover what was happening there.

The man, who does not want to be named for fear of reprisals from the criminal gang behind the drug factory, said the Oriental couple who rented 19 Dennis Lane from him eight months ago seemed "nice".

He said: "I'm absolutely shocked, I can't believe what's been happening."

"I bought the house from the relatives of a man who had died just under a year ago and planned to rent it out until I was able to build an extension.

"I didn't go into the house after the first couple of months as it always seemed very clean and tidy.

"I was over there just three weeks ago cutting the grass, but I didn't go into the house then."

Officers raided the large detached house last Wednesday following a tip-off from council workers, who found bills from the property in a pile of cannabis leaves when clearing up a rubbish dump in nearby Warren Lane.

Police seized 2,000 plants, which produce about £10 worth of the drug each, drug equipment and 11 holdalls packed with the leaves, one of the biggest drug hauls ever in the borough.

The tenants had also bypassed the electricity metre, and an electrician called in to inspect the house said it was just days away from burning down because sockets were so overloaded.

The owner continued: "My advice to landlords would be to not believe everything you see. This couple seemed perfectly genuine and came across as nice and they always paid the rent on time.

"In fact I work quite a long way from Stanmore and they suggested they come to my office to pay their rent.

"I'm genuinely shocked, I can't believe this has happened.

"With hindsight, there are things I would do differently. I think there is a fine balance between making more visits to the property and allowing tenants their privacy."