William Paton has been cleared of raping a woman after they met on a boozy night out in London

A businessman has been cleared of the hotel room rape of a drunken woman he met during a trip to London.

Privately-educated graduate William Paton, 30, was accused of taking advantage of the 26-year-old City worker on March 4 last year.

A jury failed to reach a verdict in relation to the case and today prosecutors announced they would not be seeking a retrial.

Paton, of Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire, is a mathematics graduate of the University of Strathclyde and was attending a black-tie event at a City of London livery company at the time.

His family run a nationwide company involved in the insurance and maintenance of taxis and private-hire vehicles.

He always denied one count of rape and protested his innocence throughout the week-long trial, insisting the complainant had consented to sex.

Both Paton and the complainant told the court they had little recollection of the evening, but the woman claims she woke up at the Holiday Inn in Whitechapel to find the defendant having sex with her.

The woman said she woke up with Paton at the Holiday Inn in Whitechapel (pictured) and couldn't remember what happened

Prosecutor Jonathan Loades earlier told the jury that after the lunchtime celebration, the woman continued drinking at The Dickens Inn, near Tower Bridge

She told the jury; 'I freaked out. I did not know if it was real or not and I remember crying in the toilet. I scared myself that I could drink that much.'

She told the court she was 'eight out of ten' on a scale of inebriation, having started on cranberry juice at noon and progressing to brandy and coke and wine.

Paton told the jury he had little recollection of the evening, but stressed: 'I would never, ever take advantage of a woman. There's absolutely no way that I would rape any woman.'

During the trial, the court had heard the graduate had travelled down from his home in East Renfrewshire to attend an event hosted by a City of London livery company - a trade association - and met the woman while out drinking afterwards.

The woman then met Paton at The Dirty Martini in Bishopsgate, Central London, the jury heard

The pair continued partying at White's strip club in Aldgate before going to Paton's hotel in Whitechapel, East London, where they were filmed on CCTV

Agreeing she was 'binge drinking' that day, the woman said earlier in court: 'I think a lot of people do at my age, I don't think I'm alone there. Before this happened and I was out I never wanted to go home. I just wanted to enjoy myself.'

Paton had said the woman was happily dancing with him during the evening and also embraced him, but the woman insisted she had no memory of the defendant.

Describing the alleged rape, his alleged victim told the court: 'I did not know if it was real or not and I remember crying in the toilet. I scared myself that I could drink that much.'

Prosecutor Jonathan Loades told the jury that after the lunchtime celebration, the woman continued drinking at The Dickens Inn, near Tower Bridge, then met Paton at The Dirty Martini in Bishopsgate, Central London.

She told the jury she regrets not catching the train opposite the bar and returning home to her long-term boyfriend.

The pair continued partying at White's strip club in Aldgate before going to Paton's hotel in Whitechapel, East London, where they were filmed on CCTV.