Two firefighters have been cleared of indecently assaulting new recruits in initiation ceremonies.
Prosecutors had alleged that novices on Green Watch at Tilbury fire station in Essex were subjected to degrading "initiations" and "pranks" during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
But today Anthony Benham, 50, of Stanford-le Hope, and Ian Maguire, 55, of Benfleet, were cleared by jurors at Basildon Crown Court.
The pair had each denied four counts of indecent assault and 10 counts of false imprisonment between 1988 and 1997.