A cannabis plantation on a main road in Cornwall had drug plants worth more than half a million pounds.

Three Albanians have been jailed for their role in the hugely profitable business that operated on the old Natwest Road in Bodmin's Fore Street.

All three appeared at Truro Crown Court and pleaded guilty to producing cannabis.

In court, the three men said they acted in concert out of fear for their families back home, with one even considered a victim of modern slavery.

Nicholas Lewin described how in Bodmin in January this year a police warrant was executed on Fore Street at the large four-storey building. The police were confronted with reinforced doors that were locked from the inside.

The defendants were found hiding and trying to escape. Lewin described the building as a health and safety hazard. Officers found phones and car keys belonging to one of the Albanians. Items related to cannabis cultivation were found in the car.

Lewin said: "Inside the building, police found a large cannabis plantation with the potential for industrial-scale production."

More than 850 plants worth £731,000 were found, British media reported.

The three young men said they were working to support their families, in difficult economic conditions in Albania.

Sentencing the defendants to 40 months, judge robert Linford Said: “You Have all entered the country illegally and are involved in serious crimes.”