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A pensioner from Exmouth has unwittingly grown a 5ft (1.5m) tall cannabis plant from a pack of bird seeds.



Patricia Hewitson, from Exmouth, contacted BBC Radio Devon's gardening programme asking for help identifying "a weed".

After discovering it was an illegal cannabis plant the police were involved.

Officers said Mrs Hewitson was growing the plant illegally but in good faith.

Mrs Hewitson said: "I sent a picture in via email and I got a couple of interesting emails back, including one from the police.

"They said they wouldn't prosecute me as I'd done it in good faith."

BBC Radio Devon's gardening expert, Sarah Chesters, said: "I think the seed of this came from the bird feeder which hangs just above their door.

"It's quite common for bird seed to contain a huge variety of plant seed and cannabis has been known to come up from it."

Cannabis is illegal to grow without a licence so Mrs Hewitson and her husband John were advised by Devon and Cornwall Police about what to do with the specimen.

Mrs Hewitson and her husband John were advised by Devon and Cornwall Police about what to do with the specimen.

A flock of sheep were left feeling a little woolly-headed after getting high feasting on the wrong sort of grass.

The animals began stumbling around after eating through thousands of pounds of cannabis dumped in their field.

Police revealed that seven bags of the intoxicating plant, worth around £4,000, were eaten by the sheep who had tucked into their illegal meal completely unaware.

Each of the plants was around three foot tall and the remnants of the stash was discovered at the edge of Fanny's Farm in Merstham, Surrey.

Farm manager Nellie Budd said she had no idea who had dumped the class B drugs in the field.

She said: "At first I thought it was someone's hedgerow rubbish. I went down to collect the bags so the sheep weren't eating black plastic.

"When I got there I realised it was a form of herbal cannabis plant. They were very strong in scent."

Hashish, or hash, is a cannabis product composed of compressed or purified preparations of stalked resin glands, called trichomes. It contains the same active ingredients—such as THC and other cannabinoids—but often in higher concentrations than unsifted buds or leaves.