Mayor quizzed over cannabis

?Wolverhampton's mayor Malcolm Gwinnett has been caught up in a police investigation into a cannabis factory, it was revealed today.

Councillor Gwinnett was arrested and questioned after plants were found in an annexe next to a unit he rents in Wombourne.

He was released on bail pending further investigations.

The Liberal Democrat councillor, who represents Spring Vale, today stressed he was in no way connected to the cannabis being grown inside a building in Ounsdale Road. "I was called out to the unit by the taxi firm nearby because they thought someone had broken in," he said.

"The police had found cannabis in an annexe which is adjacent to a unit I rent for storage. Up until then we thought it was completely empty. They had gone into my unit as well because they had to check there was nothing in there. They didn't find anything."

He told how he was arrested and taken to Cannock's Watling Street police station for questioning. "They took me back to the unit after about 15 minutes," he said. "They had to get in contact with the property owner because they had to prove it was nothing to do with me.

"I haven't done anything wrong but the police have got a job to do and their way of dealing with things."

Staffordshire Police spokeswoman Carol Evans confirmed a 58-year-old man had been arrested on Saturday on suspicion of the cultivation of cannabis following the execution of a drugs warrant and bailed pending further inquiries.