A BUSINESSMAN has been left in limbo for almost two years amid claims he was involved in a bizarre international kidnap plot.

Simon Hayes, 52, of Taunton, says he is totally innocent following his arrest in April 2016 on suspicion of abducting an elderly American man with dementia.

Mr Hayes has been bailed a number of times in the interim period and must now wait until at least next month to see if he is going to be charged or whether the police are going to drop the case.

He was originally arrested after the confused American, later identified as Roger Curry, was allegedly found wandering around Hereford after flying to this country with his wife Mary-Jo and son Kevin.

Mr Hayes, who has business interests in the States, said he drove Mr Curry from Gatwick to Hereford at the request of Kevin, who wanted his father to be cared for in a British hospital following difficulties getting treatment in the USA. He denies abandoning Mr Curry, who was later cared for in a nursing home.

Mr Curry is now back in his native country, but the case continues to rumble on, with Mr Hayes's bail recently extended until March 23 - with no assurance that there will be a decision on how to proceed the case by that date.

"I'm annoyed because I've done nothing wrong," said Mr Hayes. "If I had, I assume they'd have charged me by now.

"The police haven't produced one ounce of evidence barring innuendo and I want the opportunity to defend my right to be deemed innocent until proven guilty.

"They've put my life on hold because there's a perception that I could be deemed somebody people don't want to be associated with.

"It's affecting my ability to do business, which is my right as somebody who hasn't been proved guilty of anything."

A spokesman for West Mercia Police said: "We wouldn't confirm nor deny the name of an arrested person, but a 52-year-old man from Taunton who was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping has been released on police bail until 23 March 2018."

The force had said last September that a file had been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service and it was waiting to see whether there would be a charge or not.

A legal expert, who did not want to be named, said: "It's an extraordinary length of time for someone to be on bail. The wheels of justice should be turning quicker than that."