Poultry farmer makes police complaint after three drugs raids

Scottish poultry farmer Eddie Lovett is to make a complaint to Police Scotland after his farm was raided three times in the past three years.

In the latest raid in October, police arrived with sniffer dogs and spent several hours searching his premises.

It follows raids in July 2012 and April this year.

See also: Poultry farmer jailed for cannabis ‘diversification’

Mr Lovett, who runs the Crosslee poultry farm in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, told the Daily Record that he believed police had mistakenly thought he was growing cannabis rather than hatching chicks because of the heat being given off by his sheds.

“I’ve a hatchery, which means my sheds are nice and warm.

“There’s an incubator that runs at just under 100F.

“But it seems the police don’t have the common sense or brains to work out that incubators and chickens go together”
Eddie Lovett, poultry farmer

“But it seems the police don’t have the common sense or brains to work out that incubators and chickens go together.”

Mr Lovett confirmed to Poultry World that he was in touch with his lawyers and said he would be making a major complaint to Police Scotland.

“I have been advised by lawyers not to say too much, but this has all been an absolute nightmare.”

Mr Lovett took over in 2010 the well-known Muirfield hatchery breeding stock of Black Rock chickens from Margaret and Peter Siddons, who had been breeding the birds for the past 40 years.

He has about 1,500 parent stock, supplying distributors in the UK.

Police Scotland declined to say why they had searched the farm.