This was the scene that greeted officers who discovered 1,000 cannabis plants in an empty Rhondda pub last week. Police were first seen at the Rhondda Hotel on Thursday, December 29, and were still in the area on January 2.
People in the area reported seeing a large police presence outside the pub, which closed its doors in June 2022, throughout the day on Thursday. A spokesman for South Wales Police has confirmed that officers discovered 1,000 plants on the premises after being alerted to the crime by Western Power Distribution.
A local resident who asked not to be named said: "I saw what looked like a forensic officer walk out of the pub. I've passed a couple of times today and seen different large police vehicles there. Workmen have been digging up the road outside so I wonder if they smelt anything."
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South Wales Police have released four images of their discovery. The photos show the inside of the pub which has been empty since the summer.
The photos show the rooms set up in a sophisticated manner with what appear to be heat lamps standing over hundreds of large cannabis plants. The plants appear to be mature and are jam packed in the rooms.
The Rhondda Hotel opened in 2003 before closing its doors last year. It was described as "one of the finest music venues in Wales" and "the place to go for top-notch musical entertainment and a pub that, as soon as you walked through the doors, felt like home".
The venue played host to many shows over the years with the likes of Ricky Warwick and The Wonder Stuff's frontman Miles Hunt taking to the stage. However the Covid-19 pandemic took its toll on the venue and it never recovered. You can read more about the closed clubs and pubs in RCT here, or subscribe to our dedicated Rhondda newsletter here.
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