A MAN arrested after police smashed a drug operation worth up to £2.3 million is facing a long prison sentence.

Officers discovered 936 growing cannabis plants when they raided two houses in Wordsworth Green, Malvern.

Samuel Townsend, aged 28, of Spring Gardens, Malvern, pleaded guilty to the production of cannabis when he appeared at Worcester Crown Court.

Granting him bail for pre-sentence and psychiatric reports to be prepared, Judge Robert Juckes said a significant jail term was "most probable" given the amount of drugs involved.

Police discovered the drugs on October 21 last year. Prosecutor Paul Whitfield said the cultivation was on a commercial scale.

Defence barrister John Hodgkinson estimated the potential profit from the drug was between £155,00 and £2.3 million.

He said Townsend had suffered from mental health problems all his life.

Townsend will be sentenced in the week beginning July 3.