Officers smelt the drug in the aftermath of the tragic fire near Lewes where two firefighters lost their life trying to control the inferno.

Retired couple Brian Bayes, 68, and his wife Sandra Bayes, 64, were arrested after Lower House Farm, at Laughton, was searched and up to 200 plants were found growing in a barn.

The officers had been manning a cordon sealing off the area in December 2006 when they were alerted by the strong smell of the drug, Lewes Crown Court heard.

Rufus Stilgoe, prosecuting, told the jury the cannabis was found growing in a old barn helped by lighting, heating and fertiliser.

In a video shown to the court, cut grown plants were seen hanging from the ceiling to dry in one room of the barn.
Mr Stilgoe said: 'It was an established and sophisticated cannabis
factory. Plants were found in various stages of growth. It appears the operation had been continuing for some time.'

He added it was the sort of operation which would need regular attention to maintain the specialised equipment.

The court was told the couple denied knowing about the drug and claimed large amounts of money transferred into their bank account was connected to their life-savings from the sale of their pub before they retired.

Mr Stilgoe said: 'We say they must have known what was going on. The son had been away for some time. That is the kind of operation that needs someone, at least on occasion, to look after it.'

He added Brian Bayes' fingerprints were found on a document in the barn and his DNA was found on a cigarette butt in a plastic rubbish bag behind a door.

When arrested, the couple said they were house-sitting for their son, who owned the property but was away travelling, and had been there about two weeks while waiting to move into a new home of their own.

In an interview read to the court, Mrs Bayes told detectives she had no idea the cannabis was being grown and denied ever smelling it.

She said: 'Even when we came back and it had been raining I just thought it was the smell of the trees.'

The jury heard she told officers she recalled their son Daniel had once been suspended from St Bede's School in Upper Dicker after he and a friend were caught with cannabis.

Mrs Bayes added: 'He and this other boy got suspended for six weeks but he didn't have any - he's never taken drugs.'

Her husband, Brian Bayes told officers: 'My wife wouldn't know a bit of cannabis from a bit of chewing gum to be honest.'

He admitted going into the barn but denied ever feeding or watering the plants, adding: 'I never smelt it.'

Asked if his son Daniel, who deals in computers, had ever smoked cannabis, Mr Bayes replied: 'I think he's dabbled with it as a kid, like all kids do. He's not an addictive type of person but who knows?'
Asked again if he knew about the factory, Mr Bayes replied: 'I never had a clue quite frankly.'

The couple, of Upper Dicker, near Hailsham, deny producing the class C drug and money laundering £77,648 from the sale of the cannabis.

The trial continues.