A JURY has acquitted two men accused of involvement in a Tadcaster cannabis factory after both said they had never been to the town in their lives.

Carl David Wood and Paul Bray were giving evidence at York Crown Court on the second day of their trial, at which both denied possessing 5.78 kgs of cannabis with intent to supply it to others.

On the opening day, the jury heard that fingerprints and other evidence linked the pair to two white vans seen in Tadcaster on February 1 last year, the occupants of which ran off on foot leaving behind a sack containing 5.78 kg of cannabis leaves.

An hour later, police found 1,200 plants capable of producing up to £500,000 in street value of cannabis at Stutton Grange in Garnet Lane, Tadcaster, and found Wood’s driving licence on the ground outside.

Both were acquitted unanimously.

Mr Wood, 27, of James Street, Farnworth, Bolton, said he had been at his mother’s home in Lancashire for the evening of February 1. He had left his driving licence in the door panel of the van, which he sometimes drove.

He told the jury he had not been to Tadcaster that night or on any other occasion, and had never even heard of it.

Mr Bray, 26, of Whithead Road, Clifton, Swinton, said he had never been to Tadcaster and did not know anything about the cannabis factory. He said his fingerprints must have been on the sack from when he had picked it up on a different occasion.