A York man whose IT support and computer processing parts business crashed with thousands of pounds worth of debt has promised not to hold directorships or manage any company for seven years.

Daniel Mitchell, 33, of Sykes Close, St Olave's Road, gave the formal undertaking of a ban to The Insolvency Service after not disputing charges of unfit conduct when it came to Mitchell IT Limited, his Leeds-based firm.

The business was placed into compulsory liquidation by the High Court on November 7, 2002, when Customs & Excise claimed £124,617 in unpaid VAT, just short of the £125,000 total estimated losses. But after the official receiver examined the books this was later revised to £76,515, the minimum that Customs & Excise felt it could claim.

He was said to have breached his duties as a director by:

Opening a bank account for Mitchell in May, 2001, in the name of Kenneth Daniel, a friend of his family who he had never met and who was not a registered officer of the company

Making no reasonable inquiries about the source of receipts of £513,748, and destination of payments of £509,411 in and out of his firm's National Westminster Bank account between June 25, 2001 and July 10 that year

Completing and signing a VAT return for July, 2001 as a nil return - the same period in which the NatWest account was used, but without checking whether there were transactions on which VAT would be levied.

As a result, the official receiver could not determine whether the cash which left the bank was spent on behalf of the company, or who authorised the bank payments out of the NatWest account - him or Kenneth Daniel.

It was also difficult to discern the level of Mitchell's VAT debt, although receipts from customers into the bank account totalled £513,748, of which the taxman ultimately calculated a minimum of £76,515 in unpaid VAT.

Acceptance of the undertaking to the Insolvency Service, means that Mr Mitchell is banned from being a director of a company or in any way, directly or indirectly, being concerned or involved in promoting, forming or managing a company for the next seven years.

Updated: 10:56 Friday, April 16, 2004