A father and son who ran an engineering company have each been disqualified from acting as company directors for six years for failing to pay tax, following an investigation by the Insolvency Service (IS).

Anthony Meadows and his father Kenneth Meadows were directors of Quality Assurance (NDE) Ltd, an engineering company specialising in non-destructive testing based in Ellesmere Port, Merseyside. The business was placed into liquidation on 15 July 2011 with a deficiency to creditors of £247,466.

The IS investigation found that from September 2009 onwards, the company stopped paying VAT to HMRC and that by the time it went into liquidation two years later, it had incurred £106,948 in unpaid tax.

The investigation also found that Quality Assurance made a payment of £24,893 to an associated company in June 2011, at a time when Kenneth and Anthony Meadows knew that Quality Assurance was insolvent, which was to the detriment of the company's creditors, its principal creditor being HMRC.

Claire Entwistle, IS lead investigator for company investigations, said: 'Failure to properly comply with taxation requirements will be severely dealt with by the Insolvency Service. The protection afforded by limited liability is based on company directors meeting their duties and obligations, including those to the Crown. If they fail to meet these obligations, the Insolvency Service will see that this protection be withdrawn.'