A PREGNANT Quarry Bank mum caught running a cannabis farm that could have produced £29,000 worth of the controlled drug has avoided spending time behind bars.

Karen Bate, aged 26, had 33 plants growing in a bedroom when her Thorns Road home was raided by police officers, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

The farm had a "relatively sophisticated hydroponic system" and the electricity supply had been by-passed to power the operation - Joanne Barker, prosecuting, said.

Bate, a mum-of-two - of previous good character, pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis and abstracting electricity and she was given a six-month jail term suspended for a year.

Judge James Burbidge further ordered her to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work in the community and told her: "You are entitled to one mess up in your life."