A 25-YEAR-OLD Stroud man who operated a 'cannabis factory' in the town has been fined by Cheltenham magistrates.

Ben Richards of Mathews Way, Paganhill, admitted producing a quantity of cannabis on April 27 last year.

Richards was fined £150, ordered to pay prosecution costs of £85 and a destruction order was made in relation to the cannabis plants, heat lamps and extractor.