FORMER haulage boss Robert Eddolls has been spared prison after being convicted of running a company after being made bankrupt.

Eddolls, 62, of Highworth Road, Swindon, will do 80 hours unpaid work after being guilty of the Department of Trade and Industry charge.

He denied being concerned with the management of Eddolls International Transport Ltd, Marshgate, while being an undisharged bankrupt between May 1997 and April 1999.

Employees at the firm said they believed he had a behind- the-scenes role, driving a forklift truck.

But last month a jury at Swindon Crown Court decided he was running the company.

Defending, Charles Parry said his client was remorseful and sorry that the company had suffered financial difficulties.

He suggested a suspended sentence or conditional discharge would be appropriate, especially in light of Eddolls' work and home commitments.

Sentencing, the recorder Mr Tim Grice told Eddolls: "It was quite clear from the trial that you did remain involved in the doings of the company and you should not remain involved.

"The problem is that it is important where companies are concerned that there is a transparency otherwise creditors lose out.

"You have had a lifetime of honest and hard-working trading and I accept you did not undertake to defraud people."

Eddolls was ordered to pay £1,500 costs and disqualified from acting as a company director for five years.