The director of a company specialising in pedicures - by fish - has been disqualified for seven years following an investigation by the Insolvency Service which found that Bradly Carter had failed to maintain adequate accounting records for the entire time the company was trading.

Carter's company, Dr Spafish Ltd, started trading in August 2010 and went into liquidation in November 2011, owing £788,968 to creditors. Based in Essex, it had stores across the country offering fish pedicures and also sold franchises.

The Insolvency Service said that the accounting records for the entire trading period were insufficient, making it impossible to establish what the company's turnover was, who benefitted from cheques and cash worth £181,953 withdrawn from the company's bank account, and what happened to £68,100 received as part payments for franchises.

In addition, incomplete payroll records meant it was not possible to establish who was employed by Spafish, what they were paid and whether tax had been paid to HMRC, nor could the Insolvency Service determine the full extent of losses incurred by customers or who these customers were.

Mark Bruce, a chief examiner at the Insolvency Service said: 'Company directors must keep sufficient financial records that show and explain the company's transactions. This director failed to do this and there remain a large number of unexplained transactions, representing significant amounts, over the company's trading period.'