THE DIRECTOR of a swanky restaurant has been banned after dodging his taxes.

Byron St John Swales had been in charge of Indian Summer UK Ltd, which ran a restaurant in East Street in The Lanes.

But the Brighton venue had racked up debts to the taxman worth more than £130,000.

The current restaurant in Brighton retains the same name, but is under the new management of a company called Dragonflybn1 Ltd.

Inspectors were called in to look at the books in 2016 and found that vast sums were owed.

The money included interest and penalties.

A tax probe found Mr Swales, 56, from Hove, had failed to keep accurate records from December 2011 until February 2018.

The business was first registered with Companies House by Mr Swales in 2003, with a company address in Western Street, Brighton.

He had hidden orders for more than seven years and under declared the restaurant’s orders, investigators said.

The Insolvency Service said the company run by Mr Swales went into voluntary liquidation in May 2019.

The restaurant is now under new ownership and management. Mr Swales has been banned from acting as a company director for six years.

The Secretary of State accepted a disqualification undertaking from Mr Swales in May last year, and it was effective from June 19.

Last month the Insolvency Service published details of the six-year ban. Disqualification undertakings are the same as a disqualification order, but it saves those involved from going to court. People subject to a disqualification order are bound by a range of other rules.

David Argyle, deputy head of investigations for the Insolvency Service, said: “Byron Swales concealed transactions from company books for over seven years to avoid tax obligations and keep money destined for the public purse. As a result, Byron Swales will be banned from the business environment for six years.”