A WOMAN has been cleared of 21 counts of fraud relating to ‘book-keeping difficulties’ at the Union Exchange pub in Colne.

Caroline Evans, 34, of Casserley Road, Colne, was discharged from Burnley Crown Court, after the prosecution offered no evidence and Judge Andrew Woolman recorded not guilty verdicts on all counts. She had denied the allegations and had been due to face trial.

Prosecutor Guy Mathieson told the hearing that Evans had faced fraud charges in relation to book-keeping difficulties at the pub.

He alleged: “There is no doubt, the Crown says, that there are significant discrepancies in the books, that Caroline Evans had been partially trained up to do. She was not a book keeper by trade.”

Mr Mathieson said ‘rather detailed and sober analysis’ of the books raised more questions than answers. He said: “The Crown cannot, on the proper standard, say that there are reasonable prospects of convictions.”