Hale Independent Issue 189

MARCH 2026 12 0161 566 2684 Restaurant & Takeaway For traditional cuisine from Bangladesh & India fusion of Asian dishes Free Delivery Within 3 miles radius. Minimum order £20.00 (15% discount on collection) Unlicensed Restaurant Bring your own alcohol Only wine and bottle beer (no cans please) Free Car Park Register online & collect loyalty points savaanarestaurant.co.uk The Wycliffe Hotel (OFF St Lesmo Rd) 74 Edgeley Road, Stockport SK3 9NQ A MAN who hid from police in the loft of a disused registry office that had been converted into a large-scale canna- bis farm in Macclesfield has been jailed. Viktor Ymeralilaj, of no fixed address, was given a 16 months sentence. The 31-year-old had pleaded guilty to the cultivation of cannabis at the first opportunity at Chester Crown Court. The court heard that at around 9am on Monday January 19 this year police officers from Macclesfield conducted a warrant at the former registry office on Park Green in the centre of the town. The building, which has a cellar, first and second floors and a loft area, was derelict and had been boarded up for some time, making access inside the property consid- erably difficult. However, once inside the property, officers located four separate rooms on the ground floor containing NEWS IN BRIEF THE Podiatry Team at East Cheshire NHS Trust has been recognised for delivering an outstanding level of care following the results of a recent Patient Satisfaction Survey. PLANS have been submitted to convert a former Macclesfield pub into a Home of Multiple Occupation and flats. The Cock in Treacle on King Edward Street has been vacant since 2016. MACCLESFIELD MP Tim Roca is backing Dean Valley Community Primary School in Bollington in its efforts to raise £35,000 to transform its sports field. The planned facility would also be used by the community in partnership with Bollington FC. CHESHIRE East Council has been carrying out improvements to transform the Holcombe Drive play area in Tytherington. The project has been funded by Macclesfield Town Council. More play area improvements are planned in Macclesfield later this year at West Park and South Park. THE new-look Macclesfield Market Hall has officially opened following its £1.9million revamp. Jail for cannabis farmer who hid for eight hours Guilty plea: Viktor Ymeralilaj (Photo credit: Cheshire Police) fully grown cannabis plants. The cannabis discovered has been estimated to be worth upwards of £175,000. Moving further into the property, it became clear to the officers that the building had been converted into a large-scale cannabis factory and that a number of people had been living there. Further searches resulted in officers finding fresh food items inside a kitchen area, several beds, a washing machine, and items of cloth- ing hung up and drying. A radiator in one of the sleeping areas was also found to be still warm, indicating that someone had been there recently. Because of the size of the property, the search contin- ued across the day and, at around 5pm, an officer with a thermal heat gun found a trace of heat located in the loft area. Inside was Ymeral- ilaj, who was found crouched behind a roof beam. He was brought into cus- tody and while being taken to a cell, he told officers he had been held at the canna- bis farm against his will. During his interview, he maintained that he had been held against his will by two men who employed him to feed and water the plants. He went on to say that he had last seen three men around three weeks earlier and that he had been locked inside the building to tend to the cannabis ever since. However, despite his pro- tests, he was subsequently charged with the offence. Speaking after the hear- ing, Police Constable David Noon, of Macclesfield’s Neighbourhood Team, said: “Viktor Ymeralilaj told us that he had been held cap- tive at the former registry office on Park Green, Mac- clesfield, with no means of escape. “However, the uncovering of several food items within the kitchen area that were still very much in date proved that someone had definitely been out and done their shop very recently. “The building had been fully converted into a can- nabis factory with living quarters, with the intention of producing the drug on a large scale. “That cannabis has now been destroyed and the closure of this large-scale operation will deal a consid- erable blow to the local drug trade, which I welcome. “With that said, however, we rely on information from the public to help us locate and shut down operations such as this. So, I would urge anyone with any con- cerns or information about the cultivation or facilita- tion of drugs in their area to please contact their local beat team and leave the rest to us and our big red keys.” Drugs !nd: The cannabis farm (Photo credit: Cheshire Police)