A businessman has been jailed for two and a half years after pleading guilty to his part in a £1m cannabis operation in Pembrokeshire.

And Roy Skinner, 48, is set to lose a fortune after police raided a farm near Wolfscastle.

Swansea Crown Court heard on Friday how Skinner spent £245,000 buying New Farm and invested £30,000 in the planting and rearing of more than 1,000 cannabis plants.

But police swooped in August last year just as the plants began to mature, leaving Skinner without a penny from the operation.

Police sources told the Western Telegraph the farm was thought to be capable of producing 42 kilos of cannabis per month - worth almost £1million per year.

If the court determines the original investment was made with criminal intent Skinner will lose the lot - as well as serving the 30-month jail sentence.

Jim Davis, prosecuting, said New Farm had more than doubled in value since Skinner made his purchase.

Mr Davis said the farm, near Sealyham, Wolfscastle, had been valued at more than £500,000 12 months ago and had probably increased in value.

Skinner, of Wilmington, Dartford, Kent, admitted being involved in the production of a controlled drug.

His barrister, David Baccup, said Skinner had been foolish but others had been the prime movers in the operation.

Skinner, he said, had run a successful car importation business but got into financial trouble after agreeing to sell out to a partner under whom the business quickly collapsed.

Skinner then fell to temptation and turned New Farm into a criminal enterprise.

Only 100 plants had been ready for harvesting when the police knocked on the door and Skinner had made "absolutely nothing" out of his involvement in crime. On the contrary, he had lost his £30,000 investment.

But Judge Burr pointed out: "there will be further, financial, consequences."

The judge said Skinner had helped to prepare a sophisticated cannabis farm and anyone who indulged in such activity must expect an immediate jail sentence.

"You provided the establishment for this operation and, while clearly others were involved, you invested £30,000 in it. That is completely lost and there will be further financial consequences.

"This was a cannabis factory capable of producing drugs of good quality and you were close to a harvest," he added.

DI Steve Matchett, of the Pembrokeshire division of Dyfed-Powys police, said: "This operation, which took place with the assistance of the local authority, resulted in disruption to the production and drugs supply market.

"It sends a clear message to organised criminals - don't come to Pembrokeshire as the chances are you will get caught."

Police destroyed the cannabis plants on site, by burning them, and crushed all the cultivation equipment.