Police have smashed a cannabis factory at an undisclosed property in Forest Gate after an early morning raid, as part of the London-wide Operation Hawk.

Two hundred plants were found at the address by officers who were among 4,000 safer neighbourhood police and PCSOs targeting drug dealers, antisocial behaviour and criminals across the capital.

It was one of the operation’s first successes.

Launching the operation today, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe said: “Operation Hawk is another way to tackle criminals decisively and directly.

“It’s all about responding to local concerns and acting on them to crack down on crime rapidly and effectively.

“The idea is that we take our intelligence to a magistrate ask for a warrant and ‘put the doors in’ as quickly as possible right across London.”