A former scout leader accused of historic indecent assaults on a boy and girl more than 40 years ago has been found not guilty of all charges against him.

William Dell, 70, of Faraday Road, West Molesey, had denied four counts of indecent assault with a male, one count of gross indecency with a child under 14 and one count of indecent assault with a female person under 13 during a trial that began last week at Guildford Crown Court.

All the charges referred to a three-year period between July 1971 and July 1974 when he was an assistant leader at the 2nd Esher scout group and the leader of the 3rd Molesey scout group.

A jury of eight men and four women took one hour and 32 minutes to come to a decision about his innocence today.

Character references read out in court last week described Mr Dell as a keen footballer with a passion for scouting, and detailed the anxiety he had experienced throughout the investigation into the claims.

One reference said: "As the years have passed I regarded him as a good friend. While I do not seem to see him quite as much, my family looks upon him as a good person who can be relied upon."