Bright idea to use cannabis factory lights on Meadow Lane pitch

SEIZED equipment from police raids on cannabis factories throughout Notts is being used to grow a different type of grass – this time on a football pitch.

Notts County FC will receive new lighting, previously used to grow the illegal drug, to improve areas of the turf which are shaded by the stands.

Students from the University of Nottingham have pitched in with local heating company Ailsen Ltd to build the four rigs, which are made using recycled goalposts and the lighting equipment donated by the police. They are expected to complete the project in around two months.

Similar rigs cost clubs around £80,000, but with the free equipment and hard work of volunteers, Notts County is currently running under their £5,000 budget.

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The project is the brainchild of stadium manager Greg Smith, who had read about the police raids in the Post.

After a few phone calls, he got the wheels turning on the innovative approach to recycling seized goods for the benefit of the club.

He said: "It's definitely an interesting community project. It was great to get everyone round the table. I thought it would be a hard task to achieve, but in the last couple of weeks it has all come together.

"Hopefully next year we will really see the difference. We rented some rigs for Meadow Lane about four years ago and it really helped the surface."

With Nottingham Rugby also housed at the stadium, the grass gets a lot of use over the winter and the ground staff are hopeful that the new rig will make a difference to the pitch.

The students on hand to carry out the work are studying mechanical engineering at the university and are part of the MetSoc society. They fought off competition from 40 other respondents to the project, after going through an interview process.

Mark Meaneer, one of the students, 21, said: "It should be quite a straightforward task because the hardest part was the design stage and that's pretty much finished. We are not that experienced, but we are thrilled to have the job because not only will it help the club, it will help us in the future too.

"This is a hobby, and we enjoy doing it in our spare time."

Fellow student Janice Leung, 21, added: "None of the projects we do at university are on this scale. It's amazing to grow something good out of something bad."

Each individual light can cost up to £60, and batteries were also donated along with wheels from a nearby golf course's buggies.

Notts Police Superintendent Mark Holland headed a raid four months ago that contributed towards the donation.

He said: "It's good news for everyone involved."

He added that he was pleased that the club could improve its facilities without breaking the bank.

"We are hoping to get a couple of hospitality boxes for the money we have saved them," he joked.