Police have renewed an appeal to find those responsible for a £215,000 cannabis farm found hidden beneath a trapdoor.

Northumbria Police discovered the secret grow at a property in Highcliffe Gardens in Gateshead on 27 June.

The trapdoor led to a series of tunnels and rooms containing about 200 cannabis plants and equipment, the force said.

Insp Craig Brown said the suspects had bypassed the building’s electrics creating a fire hazard, and damaged walls making the structure unsafe.

He said: “As well as funding more serious and organised crime, the illicit and unregulated production of cannabis in confined spaces, such as this one, presents a worrying safety risk to both the people involved and the community.”

A force spokesman said no arrests had yet been made but an investigation was under way.