Legal proceedings brought against four current and former British Airways (BA) executives accused of price-fixing have been withdrawn by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

The decision comes after new evidence came to light last week, including emails sent and received by former Virgin Atlantic employee Paul Moore - evidence which the OFT and defendants have been unable to review. Although the OFT said an initial review found most of the evidence would not have any relevance to its case, it has accepted it would be "potentially unfair" to continue with the case following the discovery.

An OFT spokesperson said: "In light of rulings made by the trial judge last Friday, the OFT has concluded that it would not be realistic to request an adjournment of the trial, which the late disclosure of the additional electronic material would otherwise have necessitated. "Following the OFT's decision, the four defendants were acquitted by the jury at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court this morning."