A Norwich businesswoman who once ran several bars and restaurants in the city has been found not guilty of defrauding HM Revenue and Customs.

Sarah-Jane Roberts, 39, cried as the verdicts were announced at the end of a six-day trial at King's Lynn Crown Court today.

The jury took less than two hours to return not guilty verdicts on all six charges of fraud.

Miss Roberts, 39, was too emotional to talk in depth to the EDP and Evening News afterwards.

But she said she had given her all to Norwich.

Miss Roberts had been charged with failing to pay VAT, income tax and national insurance of an undisclosed amount, while she was the director of Indulge Ltd and Consulting Guru Ltd, between 2010 and 2012.

Among the bars and restaurants she ran were Beluga, The Mulberry, the Langtry, The Buck, Bam Bam, and Carnival, now known as the Hideout.

Earlier in the trial, Miss Roberts, a mother-of-one, from The Street, Brooke, said she had no experience of accounting or book-keeping, and relied on others to submit her VAT returns.

She said she had taken on one of the premises without getting business advice because she had 'a vision of what' she could turn it into.

She had employed her child's former nanny to help her with the accounts because 'she was very clever and she worked at my home'.

After the verdicts were announced, Recorder Patrick Upwood QC told her: 'Be very careful in the future.'

Miss Roberts said she had been so busy in her job that she only stopped working when 'she fell asleep', and her businesses were open from 9am to 4am.

In 2013 her two companies were dissolved and administrators were appointed.