CRIMESTOPPERS have launched a scratch and sniff campaign.

The aim is to make the public more drugs-savvy so they can help catch drugs criminals.

West Yorkshire is a cannabis farm hotspot , with the highest rates in the country.

Police found nearly 1,800 cannabis farms in the county between 2010 and last year – including many in Huddersfield and in Calderdale.

Now Crimestoppers has launched its Cannabis Cultivation scheme to crack down on them.

The independent crime-fighting charity and police officers will distribute ‘scratch and sniff’ cards to the public to help educate and inform them about the signs.

The cards are designed to help the public detect cannabis farms by recognising the smell of cannabis. The cards contain a chemical which replicates the smell of the drug in its growing phase.

The scheme is part of a nationwide operation. Across the country, there has been a 15% increase in cannabis factories in 2011/12.

A number have been found in our area the last few weeks.

Earlier this month two men were jailed after police uncovered a £150,000 cannabis factory in two flats in Ripponden.

The criminals had ripped out the kitchen, fitted metal bars and grilles to a door and windows, lined rooms with silver foil and hooked into the mains electricity supply.

Last week a man was arrested after a cannabis farm was found in a house in Earlsheaton, Dewsbury.

Last month police investigating a house burglary discovered 60 cannabis plants worth £20,000 being grown in the cellar and bedroom of a house in Brooke Street, Brighouse.

And following an anonymous tip-off in February, police uncovered a stash of cannabis plants worth £6,000 hidden behind a garage petition at a flat in Elland, as well as a further £3,000 of plants growing in the house.

The Association of Chief Police Officers lead for drugs, Andy Bliss, said: “Closing down cannabis farms and arresting the criminals who run and organise them is a key focus in drugs policing.

“This is because we recognise that these farms are often run by organised criminals, but also because they bring crime and anti-social behaviour into local communities causing real harm and leaving people feeling unsafe.”

Crimestoppers’ director of operations, Roger Critchell, said: “We are distributing ‘scratch and sniff’ cards because not many people know how to recognise the signs of cannabis cultivation happening in their neighbourhood, many are also not familiar with the established links between this crime and serious organised crime.”

Anyone who suspects a cannabis farm is being run in their neighbourhood should contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.