A FORMER sex club closed down by council chiefs has been used as a cannabis factory, the Daily Echo can reveal.

Police raided the old Club Kiss building and found a “significant amount of plants”. Two people were arrested.

Specialist units, including armed officers, had swooped on St Anne’s Road, Woolston, after reports of a disturbance.

They were alerted to the drugs by the smell, a police spokeswoman revealed.

Last night neighbours spoke of their shock at the latest chapter in the property’s chequered history.

They described how a woman had climbed out of a window and tried to flee but had been caught and handcuffed by officers.

Kinky hotel Club Kiss began hosting fetish nights at Milton House, a former NHS rehabilitation centre, in September last year.

More than 1,000 people in what they described as a “quiet family neighbourhood” joined a campaign to close it down.

Some complained they felt intimidated going out into the street because of the late-night comings and goings by partying swingers in skimpy clothes.

Council chiefs shut the club in December, saying the man behind it had failed to get planning permission.

Martin Millar, who was leasing the property, left in January after moving out the last of his equipment, vowing to continue running his popular swingers’ parties in Spain and Mexico.

He was unavailable for comment last night and is believed to be abroad. There is nothing to suggest he has any involvement in the drugs factory.

A police spokeswoman confirmed the raid had taken place on Sunday night but was unable to confirm the number of plants, their value or how long they had been growing.

Two people have been arrested on suspicion of being concerned with the production of cannabis, she said.

One, a 26-year-old woman, has been bailed until September 5.

The other, a 40-year-old man, remained in police custody last night.

All day yesterday investigators were examining the building and removing the plants and equipment. A car was also taken away on a tow truck.

Neighbours described the moments police swooped on the home and the woman’s attempted escape.

A man, who did not want to be named, said: “There was a commotion. I saw the front window open and she stealthily looked round and ran down the road. They brought her back in cuffs.”

Southampton City Council has also turned down a planning application to build two new apartments on vacant land next door to Milton House.