There is no prospect of a successful criminal prosecution in the wake of the failure of the Zano mini-drone, an official investigation has concluded.

Thousands of backers invested over £2million in the project in what was originally hailed as Europe’s most successful Kickstarter scheme.

But last November they lost their money when the Torquing Group – the firm developing the palm-sized drone at the Bridge Innovation Centre in Pembroke Dock – went into voluntary liquidation.

In the wake of the company’s collapse, the Trading Standards section of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Public Protection division received hundreds of complaints from angry members of the public who had bought into the project and had nothing in return.

As a result, the Trading Standards team launched an investigation relating to the advertising and sale of the Zano drones and spoke to potential witnesses not just in the UK but world-wide.

Assistance was also provided to Kickstarter’s own investigation by an independent journalist.

The Council’s Cabinet Member for Environmental and Regulatory Services, Huw George, said: “Over the past six months we have carried out a thorough and exhaustive investigation into the Zano project.

“We have concluded that there is not enough evidence to justify a successful criminal prosecution on several grounds - including that there was insufficient proof that the drone was incapable of carrying out the functions advertised at the time of the launch.”