A YORK businessman who "brazenly cheated the taxman" faces a prison sentence after being found guilty.

William Moore, 53, denied cheating the Public Revenue by supplying inaccurate information, clocking up a bill for £87,000 tax and interest.

But a jury at York Crown Court convicted him by a majority of 11-1.

His case was adjourned so a pre-sentence report can be prepared.

Judge Arthur Myerson QC said: "It is a verdict with which I entirely agree." He said that a prison sentence was among the options he was considering.

Moore's crime came to light when he sold his skip hire and scrap metal business, Moore of York, for £1,400,000 in the mid-1990s.

The sale sparked an inquiry which brought to light his failure to declare ownership of the York Lodge Guest House, in Bootham Crescent, York, and land at Bielby, near Pocklington, when he signed a declaration of assets in 1998.

Moore claimed it was his son, Joe, who had paid £76,000 for a half share in the guesthouse in 1998 - one day before he signed the declaration of assets.

Moore had also claimed he and a friend, Harold Saddler, were to be given the land at Bielby as payment for doing alterations on the house of the owner. He said he had no idea he owned the land when he signed the asset declaration.

Moore was released on bail.