Former Wycombe Wanderers and Wasps owner Steve Hayes has started new Open Property Group business

The 54-year-old entrepreneur was in talks to sell both clubs when Met Police raided his home in February 2012, questioning him over computer hacking and the methods of private investigators he employed to watch a transfer target.

Crown Prosecution Service investigators, who never charged Mr Hayes or received a complaint against him during the saga, eventually dropped the case after a long search for evidence.

READ MORE HERE: Hayes blasts 'scandalous' treatment after police probe is dropped.

Mr Hayes bought the two Adams Park-based clubs in 2009 – four years after selling his loans.co.uk empire for around £100 million – and announced plans to create a new 20,000-seater stadium at the Wycombe Air Park site in Booker.

The scheme, initially backed by the council, was shelved after a change of leadership and Hayes then began the process of finding new owners in 2012, eventually selling to the Wycombe Wanderers Trust and a consortium that took Wasps to a new home in Coventry.

He said: “I was determined to do my best for both clubs and invested a lot of my personal money and time in them.

“It was very disappointing when the planned move fell through and that really signaled that I had taken the clubs as far as I could.

“I was in the process of selling them when the police arrived that morning. Five weeks later, the arrest becomes front page news without warning.”

Steve Hayes planned to move Wycombe Wanderers and Wasps away from Adams Park before selling them in 2012.

He added: “And this is the point where my whole life falls in. I’m losing money with both clubs and I’m on the front page. I couldn’t believe it. It was horrendous, absolutely horrendous.

“The phone starts ringing and it keeps ringing. It is a cliché but you really do find out who your friends are in moments like this.

“I had some great support from people in Wycombe and I’m very thankful for that.”

The nightmare continued for 43 months costing him around £10 million in lost business as well as his 22-year relationship, but he is hoping to put the past behind him with his latest venture.

His new business, Open Property Group, purchases vacant and rented property in England and Wales to asset manage or redevelop.

Speaking about his ordeal, Mr Hayes said: “It has been a terrible time. There was no evidence and no complaint but they just kept ploughing on in the hope that something would turn up.”