A man whose farm allegedly doubled as a £20 million drugs factory had twice gone bust in the past, a court heard.

Kevin Hoare yesterday told how receivers had been called in when his company, which made scientific glass products, got into difficulties.

The 46-year-old, who owns Bugsell Mill Oast, Hurst Green, near Robertsbridge, told Lewes Crown Court how the recession in the early Nineties had hit his business interests hard.

He said: "We had built up a substantial business in export sales, which disappeared overnight and the turnover had halved within two years."

The jury heard how the bank brought in receivers to Dixon Scientific in 1996, a firm originally started by Hoare's father, and a new company called Dixon Wilkinson was created.

But that company got into trouble as well and the bank brought the receivers in again.

Hoare told the court: "We were beginning to have trouble. They appointed receivers in June 2000.

"They were not so benevolent this time. They shut the account and the company was wound up."

The court heard how a new company called Dixon Wilkinson Scientific Products was then formed and Hoare opened an account with a different bank but up until his arrest on July 18 last year, he said he was still having to juggle the day-to-day finances.

The court had previously heard how Hoare was arrested after delivering a box containing one kilo of pure amphetamine to a London address.

The jury had also been told police officers had discovered vats of bubbling chemicals, powder, bottles and other paraphernalia and 811g of pure amphetamine, thought to be worth between £5,000 and £150,000, in Hoare's barn last July, which had in the past been used to store glass products.

Hoare, his two sons, Adam and Russell, both 20, his girlfriend Tracey Thacker, 35, of Vicarage Way, Hurst Green, and Alan Smith, 52, of Frewin Close, St Leonards, are accused of making more than £20 million worth of amphetamine sulphate and passing drugs to Graham Pierce, 41, of Streatham, south London, to sell.

All deny conspiracy to produce a controlled class B drug.

Kevin Hoare and Pierce deny conspiracy to supply a controlled class B drug.

The trial continues.