The small village of West Wittering had never seen anything like it.

When 18 police officers raided the home of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards it was to become known as one of the rock world's most infamous drug busts.

Tantalising snippets of information leaked out about what officers discovered at the scene including tales of strange aromas, men in make-up, and a naked woman covered only by a rug.

For the last 30 years police and court papers relating to the case have been gathering dust in a file at the West Sussex county archives in Chichester.

Now after more than three decades the documents can be read in full by members of the public after an embargo was lifted by the Public Records Office.

The documents reveal just how far the police were prepared to go to ensure that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were jailed for drug offences.

Police officers led by Chief Insp Gordon Dineley and armed with a warrant arrived at Redlands, Keith Richard's country home in West Wittering, late one night in February 1967.

Typical of the statements given by officers describing the raid were that of Det Sgt Stanley Cudmore who said he saw Jagger and a woman referred to Miss X sitting on a couch.

Det Sgt Cudmore said: "The woman had wrapped around her a light-coloured fur rug which from time to time she let fall, showing her nude body. Sitting on her left was Jagger, and I was of the opinion he was wearing make-up.

"Sitting on her right was a person I now know to be male but at the time I had thought was a woman."

Although never named in the trial it was later revealed that Miss X was Marianne Faithfull, Jagger's girlfriend of the time.

In another statement PC Evelyn Fuller, stationed at Bognor Regis, gave her account of the raid. She said: "As I entered the house I noticed an unusual smell. It was not the smell of burning wood.

"After first going upstairs I came down and asked the woman to accompany me upstairs to be searched. She appeared to be in a merry mood."

Police seized 27 exhibits from the house including minute traces of cannabis resin and several incense sticks. They also discovered four speed capsules in Jagger's pocket.

On the evidence of Miss X's "merry mood", Richards was charged with allowing people to smoke cannabis at his home while Jagger was accused of unlawfully possessing quantities of amphetamine.

After their trial at West Sussex Quarter Sessions in Chichester in June 1967 Jagger was sentenced to three months' imprisonment while Richards was given a 12-month prison sentence.

Both sentences were subsequently quashed on appeal following public uproar about the case and the two rock stars spent only 24 hours behind bars.

Lord Chief Justice, Lord Parker, reduced Jagger's sentence to a conditional discharge saying there was no evidence he had been dealing in the pills.

He also ruled the fact that the girl was said to be in a merry mood was not proper evidence that she had smoked cannabis.

Despite his run-in with West Sussex police Keith Richards retains close ties with the village of West Wittering.

Whenever visiting England the rock star still spends much of his time at the home which was raided all those years ago. In 1998 following an approach by village leaders Richards even donated £30,000 to the village hall appeal.