GORDON Ramsay is facing an embarrassing "courtroom nightmare" over his restaurant empire's elusive paperwork.

Government officials are preparing to prosecute Britain's most famous chef in a move that could saddle him with a £5,000 fine and a criminal record.

The multi-millionaire F-Word TV star is 16 months overdue in publishing accounts for Gordon Ramsay Holdings the business that owns his restaurants.

The 41-year-old was given a final warning last month by Companies House with a deadline to respond by tomorrow.

If Ramsay, who is estimated to earn £4million a year, has not filed accounts by then, formal prosecution proceedings will begin within days.

Accountants at GRH are now racing to beat the deadline.

A spokesman for Companies House said: "We have sent at least six letters since March but it's obviously getting quite serious.

"If the company does not respond [by Friday] it could get in quite a lot of trouble. Prosecution action will start then or a few days after."

GRH, which is run by Ramsay's father-in-law Chris Hutcheson, controls 22 restaurants and three pubs. They include Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, Pétrus and Foxtrot Oscar in London; Gordon Ramsay At The London in New York and Gordon Ramsay Au Trianon in Paris.

The business has not published accounts since March last year for the financial year to the end of August 2005. It reported a loss of £2.4million, but only after Ramsay split a £3.1million dividend between shareholders, with £2.1million going to himself.

The 2005 accounts were also only submitted late after numerous reminders from Companies House.

The chef, who failed his 11-plus and left school with two O-levels, has made no secret of his dislike of numbers.

In his autobiography Playing With Fire he said: "I'm totally gobsmacked when I see the size of the pile of papers that need signing."

A spokeswoman for GRH said the company hoped to have the accounts filed by the end of the week. The delays were caused by complications such as a change of auditor and complex personal taxation issues.

Ramsay is said to be the world's third highest earning chef. As well as restaurants he earns money from TV series such as Kitchen Nightmares, books and endorsement for companies ranging from Gordon's Gin to BT.

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