A DRUG lab unearthed in East Lancashire - and a sister operation in Greater Manchester - have resulted in 10 men and one woman being jailed for nearly 62 years.

Drug lords established an initial lab in Ashton-under-Lyne, which ran successfully for several years, Preston Crown Court heard.

And then the gang decided to expand their enterprise and rented out an anonymous unit at Victoria Mill, in Earby, in 2017, in scene reminiscent of the TV drama Breaking Bad.

Between them, the labs had the potential to manufacture hundreds of kilos of amphetamines at any one time, according to the National Crime Agency.

Investigators swooped on the Earby lab first, in early June 2018, before carrying out a search warrant at the Ashton address two months later.

Amphetamines were discovered at both locations but the Ashton property was also being used to distribute cocaine.

Eleven people were charged and prosecuted over the discoveries, including 55-year-old businessman David Heys, of Wheatley Lane Road, Fence, who found the Earby premises for the gang.

He pleaded guilty to participating in the criminal activities of an organised crime group and was given a 20-month prison term, suspended for two years.

But several of his cohorts received substantial jail time for their roles in the network, described by one leading officer as a "potential death trap".

Ringleader Paul Marley, 43, from Glossop, was imprisoned for nine years and admitting to the amphetamine conspiracy and dealing in cocaine. Forty-eight year-old Andrew Hays, of Dovecot, Merseyside, was convicted on the amphetamine charge and jailed for seven years.

Jail terms from 20 months to 81 months were handed out by Judge Beverley Lunt to seven other men and one woman, from across the north west and Nottingham, on various drugs charges.

Speaking after the case, Det Insp Jason Pye, of the NCA, said: "This type of operation can be extremely lucrative to organised crime groups, and it is pleasing to see their labs and criminal careers dismantled.

"Amphetamine is a drug which can have catastrophic consequences for users, not to mention the damaging environmental effects and massive risks that these volatile chemicals have on the environment and neighbouring properties

"Nobody wants to live close to such a potential death trap.

"This was a complex investigation. The setting up of these illicit labs and manufacturing of such drugs needs specialist knowledge and co-ordination by sophisticated and organised criminals, who are now removed from the streets."

Detectives are urging with similar drug lab concerns to call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.