A carpenter who builds theatre sets found himself in a drama when caught with a crop of cannabis plants he was brewing into beer, a court heard.

Darren Purnell’s secret was discovered after firefighters were called to his Rochester house to deal with a fire caused by a log burner.

More than 50 growing cannabis plants and 49 cut plants, along with half a kilo of dried cannabis, were discovered.

A judge told the 53-year-old, who is a church bellringer, he accepted the class B drug was being cultivated for the growing trend of brewing beer, which has become popular in the United States.

Instructions on how to turn the drug into beer can be found in video clips on Youtube.

The plants were revealed at Purnell’s home in Sidney Road in February this year after the blaze broke out in the early hours.

Purnell and his partner, who had been asleep, needed hospital treatment for smoke inhalation.

The fire service said later the couple was lucky they were not more seriously harmed as there was no smoke alarm fitted.

Purnell admitted producing cannabis on the basis it was for beer as well as its “therapeutic medical benefits”.

Brewing equipment was found in the attic and his family, Maidstone Crown Court was told. His family had cancer in its history.

Peter Eguae, defending, said Purnell was “misguided rather than malicious” in his reasons for growing the drug.

Jailing him for five months, Judge Charles Macdonald QC said despite the appearance of the house being “a thriving cannabis factory”, he could not be sure the drug was being grown for anything more than personal use for “misconceived medical reasons and also to brew beer which is becoming a more common use for cannabis”.

Purnell, who has two previous convictions for supplying drugs, was said to be living in the cellar at his home while rebuilding it.