A landlady has been left with a £30,000 bill after her house was used as a cannabis factory.

Joan Thompson's four-bedroom house in Higham Station Avenue, Chingford, was trashed by tenants who had been using it to run a drugs operation.

She let her property through Goodmayes-based Property Empire Estates, which also has a branch in Walthamstow.

Letting began in late June, but Ms Thompson, of Nevin Road, Chingford, received no rent in October or November, and went to check on the house on December 2.

She let herself in and was shocked by what she found.

Large holes had been drilled through the ceilings in the lounge and kitchen, and in the floors in the lounge and each upstairs bedroom.

Piled up in the lounge were scores of binliners filled with soil, and fitted wardrobes, valued between £6,000 and £4,000, had been broken up.

Plastic sheeting with muddy rings from plant pots was laid out on the floor in all the large rooms. Some small cannabis plants were still in their pots in the kitchen. The house will need rewiring after damage to its electrical system was caused by the powerful lights needed to grow cannabis.

Ms Thompson reported what she found to the police the day she discovered it. However she is unlikely to receive any financial help in meeting the cost of repairs.