Sixty bin bags filled with cannabis plants and growing equipment were found dumped in Bradford woodland.

The discovery, which included bags filled with twigs and offcuts from cannabis plants, was made by a man walking his dog through Buck Woods, on Ainsbury Avenue in Thackley, at about 8am on Saturday.

Bradford East MP David Ward, who reported the find to the police after being contacted by the constituent, speculated it could have been someone attempting to clear a cannabis factory.

“It is quite incredible,” said the Liberal Democrats MP. “This area has had problems in the past for fly-tipping – sometimes things are dumped along this area. It seems to be used as a dump site for people trying to escape the law or trade waste charges.

“We’ve seen white goods and a few weeks ago thousands of mobile sim cards were found. In fact we’ve seen all sorts of things over the years, but never anything like this.

“It’s quite amazing. There were bags and bags of cannabis and there was the equipment needed to grow it. It looks like someone has tried to clear a cannabis factory.”

Mr Ward said the area had an action group, Friends of Buck Wood, which was aware of fly-tipping problems.

“It’s quite a remote lane which takes you to a Yorkshire Water site,” he said.

“It’s not a thoroughfare. People often come down late at night, when it’s dark, and get rid of the things they don’t want.”

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said officers were called to Ainsbury Avenue by a member of the public who had found about 60 bin bags of plants dumped near woodland, which he believed to be cannabis.

“Officers attended and confirmed the bags contained twigs and offcuts from cannabis plants,” he said.

“The local authority was contacted to make arrangements to dispose of the material safely.”

Anyone who saw the bags being dumped is asked to contact Eccleshill NPT on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.