A husband-and-wife team who ran a dental surgery have been found guilty of defrauding the NHS.

Peter Wedge, 42, who ran the Castle Street Surgery, Banbury, was found guilty by jurors at Oxford Crown Court of one count of fraud.

His 43-year-old wife, Ruth, who is suffering from depression, was declared unfit to stand trial, but was found by the jury to have committed an act of fraud.

The court said it was not a conviction, but only a ruling because the element of 'dishonesty' was not put to the jury.

The pair, who employed three other dentists and had a £500,000-a-year contract with Cherwell Vale Primary Care Trust to treat patients on the NHS, submitted false claims for work they had not completed between January and April 2007.

Ruth Wedge was given a two-year supervision order to undergo mental health treatment, while Peter Wedge was bailed to be sentenced next month.