Seven people at the heart of a huge conveyancing scandal have now been banned from being directors.

Manchester law firm Wolstenholmes aroused such concern that the Solicitors Regulation Authority acted on Christmas Eve in 2009 to suspend the licences of five solicitors and shut the business down.

The firm’s accounts were frozen and all house sales suspended – leaving home movers stranded and out of pocket after they had transferred their money.

The SRA’s investigation found significant and serious accounting irregularities and the firm was put into formal administration in February 2010.

Subsequently HMRC chased innocent customers for missing Stamp Duty money, while as a result of a shortfall in Wolstenholmes’ client account, the Solicitors Compensation Fund has paid out over £13m to over 2,500 former clients.

The company had been founded in 1818.

The latest disqualifications, of Mario Cardinali and Waseem Saddique, follow court orders. Their bans last for 15 years – the maximum that the law would allow the judge to impose.

Five others have accepted undertakings, lasting between five and 15 years.