A RESIDENT of Rhyl believes he has paid “ridiculously high” electricity bills at his property due to a nearby “cannabis farm”.

The resident, who asked not to be named, feels the electricity supply at his Queen Street property was “tapped into” by those operating at a nearby cannabis grow, which police uncovered following a “raid”.

North Wales Police confirmed that a drugs warrant was executed on Queen Street on the morning of April 25 as part of a wider investigation.

This also resulted in the arrests of two people in Doncaster and one person in Birmingham.

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He said: “Our electricity supply seems to have been tapped into by the cannabis farm in the flats nearby, resulting in very high bills.

“About a month ago, police conducted a raid on Queen Street. Since then, our energy bills have dropped again.

“When we first moved in, our bills were very high, so we investigated, and found a cable in the back of the property with a separate meter, and a little switch tucked away in the ceiling.

“Throughout the night, it was using a kilowatt or two of electricity every hour. When we turned that switch off, it used nothing.

“If we leave that switch on again now (following the police intervention), it’s not using any electricity overnight anymore.”

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The resident claimed that, after the cannabis grow was uncovered, the pavement was dug up on Queen Street.

He added that, subsequently, energy usage in not only his, but also the adjoining properties, have since dropped to their usual levels.

During the raid, he said he saw several bags of what he believed to be cannabis being taken away.

He added that he saw a large van removing ventilation and lighting equipment, plus electrical cables and switch boards.

The resident added: “It cost us about £100 more every month on our energy bills. It’s been an absolute nightmare.

“We would just like our money back for it, if possible. Once police have concluded their investigations, hopefully, we can go to Valda and say that it wasn’t us using this electricity.

“Unfortunately, we need this money to keep us going.”

In response, Valda said it would be happy to investigate the matter further, including checking for any evidence of meter tampering.

A Valda spokesperson said: “We have not previously been made aware of any concerns around the energy supply.

“As a Valda customer, (the resident) has a smart meter, and 24/7 access to his energy usage via our app.

“We will, of course, contact him to discuss this further, and will be able to send out an engineer to check for any meter tampering.

“We will also be able to provide advice on arranging an independent trace test to ascertain whether his energy supply is serving other properties.”