An Internal Revenue Service employee has been found guilty of improperly accessing the financial information of 200 celebrities.

John Snyder was sentenced to three years’ probation, 60 hours of community service and fined $1,000 (£535).

Snyder accessed information on IRS computers about celebrities including Alec Baldwin, Kevin Bacon, Chevy Chase and Sally Field for a five-year period.

According to J. Russell George, the US taxman's treasury inspector general for investigations, the unauthorised access of taxpayer information by IRS employees violates not only the law, but also the public trust.