Pensioner found out after Jehovah's Witnesses smelled drug

Mr Wilkinson learned of the property's new use after a neighbour related an exchange he'd had with two Jehovah's Witnesses who tried and failed to doorstep its occupants.

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"My old neighbour saw [them] walking out of my old drive and he told them ‘You won't find anyone in there’" Mr Wilkinson said. “They replied, ‘No, but there’s cannabis. Turns out there were 184 cannabis plants growing inside. They could smell it."

Police raided the property soon afterwards and found plants growing in five rooms. An investigation resulted in a man from Merseyside pleading guilty to production of the class B drug in July.

Mr Wilkinson’s former home is just one of hundreds costing HS2 thousands of pounds in security since they were acquired as part of the high-speed railway’s now-scrapped northern route, with costs totalling £1.9 million between 2023 and 2024.