A fire took out one of the cannabis farms in Llandysul (Image: Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service)
An abandoned UK village has become a “ghost town” with a dark side, according to locals.
Llandysul in west Wales was once a thriving community, with two schools, four banks, a number of shops and restaurants and a famous river.
But since the building of a £23 million by-pass road and a £25 million “super school” just on the outskirts, the quaint village has reportedly become a ghost town. Locals blame high property prices, a vanishing high street and closing businesses.
In July, approximately £2 million worth of cannabis was found in a former primary school in Llandysul, with 1,500 plants across two floors. admitted running the farm.
A week after the discovery, the abandoned school with locals joking that firefighters were getting high as they battled the flames.
Multiple cannabis farms have been discovered in the village (Image: Dyfed Powys Police)
In November, another gang was charged after awith more than 700 plants in another disused school was discovered.
Until these busts, people in the area had no idea that so much cannabis was being grown.
Mari Slaymaker, 37, told : “No one knew a thing but the next thing there were police everywhere. Cannabis is known as “mwg drwg” (bad smoke) here. When the police raided the place you could smell it in the air.
“The drug gangs seem to target the most obvious buildings, like they are hiding in plain sight. We don’t know how long they had been growing the stuff for but the police estimated the crop inside the first school was worth £2m.
“I’ve been told they can grow a full crop every three months so they were making a lot of money. A lot more than us locals.”
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Gentleman’s barber and café owner Mari Slaymaker said: “I know a lot of business people in the town have retired and the younger generation has left to find work in Cardiff or England.
“The opening of the by-pass means visitors no longer come through Llandysul and we have become a forgotten place.
“I’m a glass half full person. I still believe in the town and I’m positive about the future.”
This lack of footfall in the village and empty buildings has left it a hotspot for drug gangs to take advantage, according to resident Anne Fletcher.
She said: “A lot less people come here and maybe drug gangs think it’s safer now because there are not many people coming in. It is a quiet sleepy village so there might not be as much activity going around.”