The London Fire Brigade was called to a blaze thought to have been caused by an electrical fault at a suspected cannabis factory in a terraced house in Bromley on Wednesday night.

Ordinary suburban homes are frequently being converted by drug dealers into indoor “farms”, where tin foil and special lamps are used to cultivate industrial quantities of cannabis.

The Bromley incident occurred on Downham Way, where half of the first floor and part of the ground floor of an end-of-terrace two-storey house was damaged by the fire.

Four fire engines and 25 firefighters attended the call, which they received just before 8pm, and had the fire under control by 9.15pm.

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: “Cannabis factory fires can be particularly dangerous because of the way criminals use unsafe wiring to illegally obtain electricity in order to grow the plants.

“They’re often in top floors or lofts which means when a fire takes hold it spreads, destroying roofs and damaging neighbouring buildings.

“Firefighters can also be exposed to risks when dealing with the fires because of bad wiring and traps at some of the properties.

“It’s important that people know the key signs and inform the police so that they can act swiftly to prevent these dangerous fires from happening.”

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