Three large fire engines rushed to Foundry Lane on Friday night, March 14, to deal with a fire that had started inside a residential property.

On arrival, emergency services discovered a number of cannabis plants.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called to a fire at a property in Foundry Lane, Southampton just after 10pm on Friday 14 March.

“Four fire engines attended from Eastleigh, Redbridge, St Mary’s and Totton. No one was in the property at the time.

“Firefighters used breathing apparatus, one hose reel jet and one main jet to tackle the blaze. The stop message was issued just after 1am on Saturday 15 March.”

A man who has lived on Foundry Lane for a year and a half said: “I looked out of the window at around 10pm last night and I could see three large fire engines in the street but I could not see any fire.

“After the fire service came police turned up shortly after.

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“I was quite shocked – we have not seen an emergency response like this since we have lived here and never suspected any sort of crime being committed.”

At present, the cause of the fire is not clear but police have said it is not believed to have been started deliberately.

A Hampshire Constabulary spokesperson said: “We were called just after 10.20pm yesterday, March 14, by the fire service to an address in Foundry Lane.

“They had attended to deal with a house fire, which is not believed to have been started deliberately, but when they attended, a number of cannabis plants were found in the address.

“Enquiries are underway at the address.”

Another resident of Foundry Lane said: “We came back last night and we thought our house was on fire because all we could see was the large fire engines.”

“We thought the home was empty so I’m quite surprised to learn that something like that is happening just across the street,” she continued.