Scooter shops hit bumper

A scooter business which shut down all 18 of its branches just weeks after opening in Shipley has been placed in the care of administrators.

The Scooter People, which also had a store in Bradford city centre and specialised in selling scooters in the high street, shut last month.

The Telegraph & Argus has now learned the company has been placed into the hands of administrators from Leeds-based corporate insolvency business Wilson and Pitts.

The move leaves customers who had placed orders with The Scooter People in an uncertain position and today West Yorkshire Trading Standards confirmed they were dealing with a number of inquiries from consumers.

One angry customer, who paid nearly £4,000 for a scooter several weeks before the company closed, said he had been told that its delivery had been delayed.

After waiting for weeks, he eventually learned that the company had closed.

A spokesman for Trading Standards said that, if the customer had paid cash, they were unlikely to be able to claim the money back.

But if a payment has been by credit card, the customer would be able to claim the money under the Customer Protection Act 1974.

As previously reported in the T&A, The Scooter People was set up by Paul Smith and Peter Bowler in 2001. The pair are now believed to be running a company known as The Bike People, based in Doncaster, which they opened in June last year.