FORMER North-East footballer Dean Windass has been made bankrupt after a court heard that he owed the taxman more than £150,000.

A specialist judge made a bankruptcy order against 47-year-old Windass at a Bankruptcy & Companies Court hearing in London.

Registrar Stephen Baister granted an application by a lawyer representing HM Revenue & Customs.

Windass, who comes from Hull, was not at the hearing and was not represented by a lawyer.

A judge had overseen a preliminary hearing in October, where it emerged that Windass owed more than £150,000.

Windass had not attended that hearing but had been represented by barrister Sri Carmichael.

Striker Windass made more than 600 appearances and scored more than 200 goals in a career which began in the early 1990s and lasted around 18 years.

He played for more than half a dozen clubs, including Middlesbrough, Darlington, Hull, Bradford, Sheffield United and Aberdeen.

His 22-year-old son Josh, also a striker, plays for Rangers.