A landlord and tenant who set up a cannabis factory in a Bristol house have been jailed for a total of three years.

Scott Dyer had a £140-a-week cannabis habit when he set up the operation with his landlord Paul Downton in Stockwood.

The pair were busted when police, armed with a search warrant, called at the property and found £64,000 worth of weed growing.

Dyer, 21, a plasterer and dry liner, of Coniston Close, Bristol, pleaded guilty to one charge of producing cannabis.

Downton, 43, of Derricke Road, Bristol, denied one charge of producing cannabis and one charge of abstracting electricity – however, he was found guilty of the charges by a jury last month.

Downton was jailed for two years and Dyer was jailed for one year when they appeared at Bristol Crown Court.

Paul Connell, prosecuting, said officers executed a drugs warrant at an address in Ladnam Road, Stockwood, at 7.45am on December 12, 2008.

Mr Connell said: "Two upstairs bedrooms had been converted into a cannabis factory. There were 160 plants at different growth stages. The electricity meter had been by-passed. The main tenant, Downton, was not present."

He said the plants would have given a potential yield of 13.88kg and would have been worth £64,265 on the street.

Giles Nelson, defending Downton, said his client had been living with his partner at the time and his client had minor involvement in the scheme.

Rodney Wilson, defending Dyer, said his client had been smoking £140-a-week of cannabis before he decided to set up his own cannabis farm.

Judge Simon Darwall-Smith said: "Dyer, I take into account your guilty plea and I take the view you were the gardener for Downton. Downton, you were the leading light in this matter. Anyone who professionally grows cannabis, and it was not a small amount, must expect a custodial sentence."