A high-profile prosecution of a man accused of robbing the husband of Tamara Ecclestone in Wanstead has been dropped.

Jay Rutland, 32, was approached by two men as he got out of his black Ferrari in Lonsdale Road, Wanstead, and was hit in the face and knocked to the ground on July 17 last year.

The two men stole his £50,000 Rolex and £20,000 gold bracelet.

It has now emerged the case was dropped three months after the 21-year-old had been arrested, charged and had made several appearances in court last year.

During the fight, which left Mr Rutland with several cuts and bruises to the face, one of the attackers dropped his phone.

The phone was used by police to trace one of the suspects.

Prosecutors said this was the only evidence linking the accused to the crime and would not have been enough to secure a conviction.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesman spokesman said: "The defendant was charged in July 2013 with robbery and having an offensive weapon under the Threshold Test in the Code for Crown Prosecutors.

"We decided that there was insufficient evidence to continue. All parties were informed of our decision at the time.

"With the exception of a mobile phone found at the scene, which it was later determined had not been used for almost a week before the incident, there was no substantial evidence that could have linked the suspect to the alleged offending.

"The mobile phone, while significant, could not (in the absence of any other evidence) conclusively establish who had been present.

"There was no CCTV or automatic number plate recognition evidence that could identify the suspect and he was not selected by the complainant during identification procedures.

"In light of this, we decided to discontinue the case."

According to the Daily Mail, a spokeswoman for Mr Rutland said he "respects the decision of the CPS and clearly he is disappointed that the proceedings didn’t result in a conviction."

Tamara Ecclestone is the daughter of Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone.