Sorry, but this is not a cannabis factory, couple tell dopey raiders

THE distinctive smell emanating from the house at the end of the cul-de-sac had been familiar to the neighbours for years.

But when masked gangsters forced their way into the property of a middle-aged couple, demanding its occupants hand over their cannabis stash, the home owners were understandably bewildered.

The couple, who police have not identified, were not harvesting cannabis, as the burglars had thought. In fact, they had a plant growing in their front garden commonly called Caucasian crosswort, which gives off a smell resembling cannabis and which the bungling burglars appear to have mistaken for the drug.

On discovering that the house was not, in fact, a cannabis factory, the gang made off instead with cash and other personal items. But the pair were left traumatised and utterly baffled about what had led to the mistake.

Police officers called to the property in Winford, near Bristol Airport, were equally confused, unable to pinpoint the source of the cannabis smell outside the house.

They contacted Alan Down, a local horticultural expert, for help and he told them it was coming from a plant that gave out a scent similar to “weed”.

“Apparently this is quite common – word gets out that someone is growing cannabis and a gang go and take it from them. Obviously they can’t call the police,” he said.

He soon identified the culprit as Phuopsis stylosa.

“The smell is so distinct, it really does smell like cannabis,” he told The Daily Telegraph. “It is more intense when it’s hot and dry.”

Neighbours said they had noticed the scent coming from the garden for at least 10 years but most thought it was the odour left by foxes.

The previous owner of the house, who did not wish to be identified, lived there from 1999 and said she believed it was already in the well-established garden when she bought the property.

“It was by the front door,” she said. “We could sometimes smell quite a strong scent but we thought it was foxes as there are a lot around there.”

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said they were still investigating the aggravated burglary that occurred in the early hours of August 15.