A SARISBURY Green man has been jailed for two years after police discovered a skunk cannabis factory with the potential of producing almost £50,000 worth of the drug.

Armed with a search warrant, they carried out a dawn raid on the home of Michael Miller and found 117 plants in a bedroom.

Prosecutor Rachel Robertson told Southampton Crown Court it was a first crop and would have cost about £5,000-£6,000 to set up.

The plants were about four weeks from maturity, and if they had reached that stage, they would have produced cannabis worth about £46,000 at street level.

Miller, who was alone in the property, was arrested but refused to answer questions in interview.

Passing sentence, Judge Peter Ralls QC describedd the set-up as pretty sophisticated.

In mitigation, Robert Bryan said Miller took cannabis to ease pain after he had suffered nerve damage in a motor cycle accident. He suffered from depression and his girl friend said he stayed at home like "a hermit."

The court heard Miller had nine previous convictions for 16 offences but nothing drug-related.