Cannabis farm discovered, theft at Costa Coffee, ‘cuckooing’ concerns: These are some of the incidents Lancashire Police attended in Preston last week

Teen arrested following concerns man was being ‘cuckooed’

Police raided a property in Preston on Saturday (July 15) following concerns a vulnerable man was being ‘cuckooed’.

‘Cuckooing’ is when a drug dealer takes over the home of a vulnerable person in order to establish a base for illegal drug dealing.

An 18-year-old man from the Merseyside area who had come to the city to sell drugs was subsequently arrested.

After nearly 24 hours in custody, the man was charged with being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and remanded to Preston Magistrates Court the following morning.

He was later remanded to prison pending further court appearances and trial.

Man arrested after car and bike stolen

On Sunday (July 16), police arrested a 35-year-old man on suspicion of taking without consent and burglary after attending an address in the Ingol area.

The arrest came following an investigation in June whereby a pedal cycle and a VW T-Roc was stolen.

Two teenagers arrested after ‘motorbikes interfered with’ on Royal Preston Hospital car park

Police were called after two motorbikes parked at Royal Preston Hospital were interfered with.

Two teenage men, who were identified from CCTV, were later arrested in the Ribbleton area on Thursday (July 20).

The men were charged with vehicle interference and remanded in custody.

They appeared before Preston Magistrates Court on Friday morning (July 21) and will be attending again for a future appearance.

Man arrested after threatening Costa Coffee staff

Police were called to reports a man had stolen a number of items after threatening staff at a Costa Coffee in the city centre on Thursday (July 20).

A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: “This caused a lot of stress and panic for the staff members who were simply trying to do their day job and should not be subjected to such abuse.”

A 35-year-old man from Preston was later charged with public order offences and theft.

He will be appearing at court at a later date .

Man arrested following police chase after large cannabis found

Officers following up on community intelligence executed a drugs warrant at an address in the St George’s area on Friday (July 21).

As police entered the property, a 40-year-old man tried to escape by climbing through a “very small” opening and scaling the roof.

He was caught following a short foot chase which was helped by a “diligent member of the public”.

The man was subsequently arrested for cannabis cultivation offences.

A spokesman for Lancashire Police: “As you can see from the pictures, this cannabis grow caused significant concern for the residents who live within the vicinity of it.

“The electricity had been bypassed which causes huge fire safety risks which can lead to all sorts of issues.

Cannabis cultivation often has links to wider criminality and involves factors such as child criminal exploitation (CCE), modern slavery and human trafficking.

“It is vitally important that we act on any intelligence that we receive so that we can disrupt the OCG network and safeguard the exploited individuals.”

The force said this was “just a snapchat” of the work they had carried out over the week.

If you have any concerns about criminality in the area, call 101 or email [email protected]

Always call 999 in an emergency.

Alternatively, independent charity Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.