The mortgage broker and his wife were arrested in September 2010 on suspicion of conspiracy to launder money through various properties, according to the BBC.

They were then released – but forced to live under the conditions of the bail until May 2013. These included a restraining order on the couple’s bank accounts and properties, disclosure of incoming and outgoing payments, confiscation of their passports, laptops and mobile phones.

‘Andrew’ said: “We couldn’t afford to operate from our office so we had to move out of that and instead to work from home.

“My wife and I are relieved that no charges have been brought, but our business was ruined during our time on bail. We’ve been left penniless and with a huge solicitors’ bill that we can’t pay.”

Nearly 60,000 people are currently on bail. Of these, one in twenty has been waiting for more than six months for a decision on charges.

There is currently no limit on how long a person can be kept on police bail before a decision on whether to charge them is made.

The Law Society is calling for a review of police bail practices and says there should be a statutory time limit on police bail.

A West Mercia police spokesman said the force recognised the suspects were on bail for a lengthy period of time: “”This was due to the complex nature of the case which involved the gathering of a significant volume of financial and other evidence which had to be reviewed and assessed prior to the recent decision having been made.

“Every time a person answers their bail and returns to a police station the investigating officer must satisfy the custody officer that it is necessary for that person to remain on bail and that inquiries are being carried out expeditiously.”