TWO men charged with cultivating cannabis at an old office building in Kidderminster are suspected to be victims of modern slavery.

Hung Nguyen, aged 29, and Teo Nguyen, whose date of birth is not known, were arrested following a drugs raid at an address on Church Street on Monday, September 23.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of cannabis was found growing in rooms by police at the three-storey town centre office building.

Officers found a network of electrical boxes and ventilation tubes running along the staircase and into the rooms, as well as a bath tub filled with water.

Church Street was briefly closed while the police warrant was carried out.

During a pretrial hearing held at Worcester Crown Court yesterday (Monday, October 21), Rupert Jones, prosecuting, said: "There are reasonable grounds to suspect they are victims of modern slavery."

The court heard that both defendants have been referred by the National Referral Mechanism.

Mr Jones also said there is "no one else under investigation at present".

The two did not appear in court for the hearing and did not enter a plea when they appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, September 25.

Magistrates previously made a judgement that Teo is 18 or above.

They are both set to appear at Worcester Crown Court for trial in December.