A WEST Dorset businessman has been charged with eight VAT fraud and false accounting offences worth nearly a quarter of a million pounds.

James Maxwell Williams, 50, of Litton Cheney, was charged at Southampton police station following an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs. The tax loss is estimated to be about £240,000.

Williams was charged with seven counts of cheating the public revenue of Value Added Tax, estimated at £210,000, contrary to common law. He was also charged with one count of false accounting, contrary to section 17(1)(b) of the Theft Act 1968, of around £30,000. Williams has been released on bail until May 26 when he will appear at Weymouth Magistrates Court.