Britain’s first crowdfunded prosecution has ended with the defendant being acquitted in just 17 minutes as the jury said she was not guilty of killing a cyclist by dangerous driving.

The landmark legal case was brought by The Cyclists' Defence Fund, a subsidiary of the Cycling UK charity, which raised money through online crowdfunding in order to privately prosecute Gail Purcell, a 59-year-old hairdresser.

However, Ms Purcell, of St Alban’s was cleared within minutes at the Old Bailey yesterday, after the jury concluded she was not responsible for the collision which killed cyclist Michael Mason in February 2014.

The case, which saw £80,000 raised to bring about the private prosecution, followed the decision by the CPS not to prosecute Ms Purcell, whose car collided with the 70-year-old teacher as he rode along Regent Street in Central London.