‘Well I wouldn’t know that. I only get the name of whoever makes the booking and pays me. And I’ve only seen the rest of them from a distance.’

‘So how many are there?’

‘Seven. Four young men and three young women. They’re due to leave today. As soon as they’re gone, I’ll go in and clean up the place.’

‘And am I right in saying that you allow them to take drugs?’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t care what they do as long as they enjoy themselves and come back. I had the place converted so I could run it as a bed and breakfast, but I made no money because not enough people came to stay. But when I read about a bloke in the Lake District who lets young’uns use his barn for parties, I started doing the same, and it brings in a nice little income.’

‘So, are all seven of them in the barn now?’

‘They should be, but they’re probably not awake yet. They’re usually at it all night and then sleep for most of the day. I’ll be turfing them out this afternoon.’

‘Well we need to go in to see if our man is there,’ James said.

‘Do you have a warrant?’

‘No, but if I was you, I’d think twice about making things difficult for us, Mr Porter. I’m sure that if we look into what you’re doing with this place we’ll find all manner of misdemeanours.’

The old man thought about it for all of five seconds and then puffed out his chest.

‘Fine. I’ll get the key.’

Minutes later they descended on the barn. The armed officers rushed in first and there was a lot of shouting followed by a couple of screams.

James and his colleagues entered when they were told that it was safe for them to do so. They couldn’t be sure that any of the partygoers did not have a weapon and there was no point taking chances.

In any event there proved to be nothing to worry about. The seven youngsters posed no threat. They had all been asleep and had got a rude awakening.

One guy had been lying fully clothed on the sofa and next to him on the floor were two empty bottles of beer and an ashtray full of the remains of joints.

Another guy had been dead to the world on an armchair in just a T-shirt and pants when the officers stormed in. The air around him stank of cigarette smoke and something more potent.

The rest of the dopeheads were upstairs. A guy and a girl who looked to be in her teens had been sleeping together naked in one of the bedrooms, their clothes scattered about the floor along with used condoms and a colourful bong.