A former Tory councillor has been cleared of illegally possessing a haul of guns found at his ex-wife’s home.

Nicholas Meurice had faced a minimum five-year prison sentence if convicted of the charges.

But a jury at Maidstone Crown Court took just three-and-a-half hours to unanimously acquit him.

Judge Martin Joy told the seven men and five women on the panel: “It may interest you to know I did canvass with the prosecution at an early stage whether they considered it in the public interest to pursue this case.”

Mr Meurice, who served on the town council and is chairman of Hythe Against Crime and vice-chairman of the chamber of commerce, winked at his new partner and smiled after the verdicts were returned.

The 49-year-old, of Hollybank, Station Road, Hythe, denied four charges of possessing a prohibited firearm, two of possessing a prohibited weapon, one of possessing expanding ammunition and two of possessing ammunition without a firearms certificate.

Maidstone Crown Court heard the weapons and ammunition were found by his ex-wife Alison at the former matrimonial home - seven-bedroom Redbrooks Wood in London Road, Hythe - after Mr Meurice moved out.

They parted in April 2006 after 24 years of marriage and an acrimonious divorce followed.

Mrs Meurice, also known as Chapman, said she found the weapons 10 months later while having a clear-out and called the police.

Officers found a CS gas canister in the loft of Mr Meurice’s home.

Mrs Meurice, who owns Owlets jewellers in the High Street and has been an antiques expert on ITV’s The Real Deal with David Dickinson, told how her “heart sank” when she made the find.

She claimed her husband some times took a “tube” gun on the Underground in London.

“I wasn’t with him, it was only what he told me,” she said. “He used to work in London. It was two to three years previous to 2006.”

Her former husband claimed she made the allegations because she was not content with the divorce settlement she obtained.