A Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator has been raided by drugs cops.

David Vernon, 40, owned up to a £50-a-day pot habit after police discovered a number of the plants at his property in Heathfield Avenue, Saltdean.

Mr Vernon said: "The thing is none of the people on my neighbourhood watch patch are bothered about me smoking it - nobody I know is."

The unemployed carpenter, who has been Neighbourhood Watch co-ordinator for his road for the last ten years, faces charges of cultivating cannabis and is due to appear before Brighton magistrates on Friday.

He admits he is a cannabis user - although he is not charged with possession - but he denies growing the drug. At one point he was a regular at a number of cannabis cafes which sprung up in Worthing.

Mr Vernon, a practising Druid who has been smoking cannabis since he was ten, claims it his religious right to take the drug and needs it to treat mild depression.

He now says has no regrets about being taken to court over the issue.

He told The Argus: "When I began smoking cannabis it was like my third eye had opened.

"I had an okay childhood - I wouldn't say really happy. My half brother used to hit me and one day I smoke cannabis and it all the pain went away.

"I was like wow man, this is so amazing'.

"I carried on smoking it for most of my life because I suffer a bit of depression and I find it helps with that.

"Then the police came around and knocked on our door, smashed their way into the garage.

"I believe it is in our genes to smoke cannabis and it is my religious right."

Mr Vernon claims he has done a great job of fighting crime in his area - despite admitting not really knowing what he is doing and rarely turning up to meetings.

He said: "Nobody has ever told me how to do the job so I just got on with how I thought best. I knock on all my neighbours' doors and make sure they are okay and they always are. It's a great place to live.

"I couldn't really go to many meetings because they were usually at 4pm and I was normally working then.

"But there hasn't been any crime here in recent years. The only crime was when my own car got stolen."

Mr Vernon's prosecution comes as the Government is considering upgrading cannabis from a class C drug to class B.

If the move goes through tough penalties will be re-introduced for possession of the drug.