A vehicle recovery driver who moved a car off the motorway looked in the boot to find all the parts for a cannabis factory.

The police had asked for the Toyota Corolla to be taken off the hard shoulder near Swindon after they arrested the Vietnamese driver for not having a licence.

But when the car was moved it was found to contain more than 200 cannabis plants as well as hydroponics lighting and material for blacking out windows.

Ian Halliday, prosecuting, told Swindon crown court that a motorway cop spotted the car on the westbound carriageway on Thursday October 12 last year.

"He pulled over and the defendant was found in the driver's seat having a cigarette. The officer established there was nothing wrong and the defendant was taking a rest," he said.

"The defendant was asked for his driving licence; he had none. He was asked about the ownership and he said it belonged to a man called Tran whose address in London he produced to the officer."

However he said the officer was experiences language problems and was uncertain about the address he was being given by the driver so he was arrested.

Mr Halliday said "The car of course couldn't be left safely on the hard shoulder and the police have an agreement with a local service station for abandoned cars to be recovered and impounded.

"This was done and before impounding cars it is routine to search them for perishable or valuable items left in the vehicle.

"What they discovered in the boot of the war was three boxes containing 206 small plants which they suspected might be cannabis so the police were called.

"The police conducted a more thorough search of the vehicle and as well as the three boxes of plants also seized were some light bulbs, some hydroponics plant fertilizer and some black sheet suitable for blacking out windows.

"In short the car contained the materials suitable for the setting up of a cannabis factory."

Bui, of Reynolds Road, Peckham, pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of cannabis.

Chris Oswald, defending, said his client accepted he knew what was in the car was cannabis when he agreed to drive it to from London to Bristol.

Bui, he said, was paid £100 to make the journey by a man who was involved in providing work on the black economy in London.

He said his client came to the UK in September 2002 as an asylum seeker after being tortured in Vietnam.

After travelling around trying to find work he said he was offered the job of driving to Bristol and stupidly he accepted it.

He said Bui, who has spent about five months in custody on remand, has a partner in London and they have been together for three years and have a two-year-old child.

Jailing him for eight months Judge John McNaught said "You played a small but important part with this cannabis and you were very silly to do that.

"It may be, I hope, that the sentence I pass will allow for your immediate release. It is something others to work out."