A SOLICITOR accused of swindling clients out of more than £500,000 has been committed to Preston Crown Court by Blackburn magistrates.

Philip Thomas Pressler, 51, faces 41 charges of theft and false accounting which he will answer at the Crown Court on April 7.

Pressler, of Whittlestone Head Farm, Darwen, was formerly a partner in the firm of Hindle Son and Cooper.

The Law Society first began investigating his dealings in 2001 and the charges brought by the police relate to a period from February 1998 until May 2001.