Businesses in West Yorkshire who paid a company hundreds of pounds to boost their trade stand to lose their money.

The Birmingham-based Barkley Maine Corporation Ltd - which asked for thousands of pounds in advance from firms all over the area - has been temporarily closed down following a probe by Department of Trade officers.

In July Rights and Wrongs highlighted how the company, which operated insurance property claims management, contacted firms all over West Yorkshire and - in exchange for £934 in advance - promised insurance repair work in their area during the life of the 12-month contract.

They were told if the work didn't come their way they would receive a full refund.

Since our story in July, when we told how Bradford business boss Peter Forrest was considering legal action against the company, we have been contacted by three other businesses who say they paid £934 each for work which never materialised.

Now Trade Secretary Stephen Byers has ordered the temporary closure of Barkley Maine Corporation in the public interest after calling in the Department of Trade's companies investigations branch.

A Department of Trade spokesman said the Secretary of State had presented a petition in the High Court on August 18 to wind up the company in the public interest.

"The Official Receiver is put in as provisional liquidator to look after the company assets and records until the hearing of the winding-up petition on October 13," he said. "The people who own the company can't get anything out of it.

"When the company is wound up the Receiver files a report to the Insolvency Service about the affairs of the company and the conduct of its directors in acting in the best interests of the shareholders - in this case creditors."

Jill Love, of the Pudsey Glass Centre, said: "We saw the story in Rights and Wrongs so we thought we would contact you. We signed a contract in October last year and we have received no work from them at all.

"We are yet another victim of this company. We tried ringing about a month ago and the gentleman at the other end of the phone just laughed - he seemed to think it was amusing."

Val Bell, office manager at Vincent Dobson (Builders) in Ilkley, also contacted Rights and Wrongs after reading the stories.

"We signed a contract in April last year and we had one small piece of work worth a couple of hundred pounds.

"We were given the impression we would be so pushed with the work they put our way that we wouldn't have time for anything else. The moral of this story is never pay money up front - we have learned the hard way."

Another Ilkley firm said they had taken the company to a small claims court and won - but were still waiting for their money back.

Peter Forrest, who runs Forrest Electrical Services, had some luck after contacting Rights and Wrongs. He had demanded his money back and received nothing for months.

But after two calls from us, a cheque for the full amount arrived at his business. Rights and Wrongs phoned the company number and was answered by a recorded message which said the caller had reached the public interest unit of the Official Receiver. We were unable to contact anyone from the company.

Anyone who has had any dealings with Barkley Maine Corporation Ltd is asked to contact the Official Receiver, 21, Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3SS. Tel: 0171 637 6425.

Bubble-trouble woman threatens to sue

Pensioner Ursula Payne is considering legal action against a national company after paying nearly £800 for equipment to help her have a bath.

Miss Payne, 82, paid Hampshire-based Aquability (UK) Ltd £780 for a bath bubble - air-powered equipment which lowers and raises the user in and out of the water - after a home demonstration.

But she claims problems arose after it arrived which she was not aware of before. And she is now asking for her money back.

The firm says it has offered to exchange it for another product and can do no more.

Miss Payne, who lives in Wyke, said: "The rep didn't show me how to assemble it and take it down afterwards.

"When it arrived I had great difficulty unpacking it all because I am only 4ft 10 and I have an infection which has inflamed the muscles all over my body and I can't lift anything.

"She didn't tell me that once you have re-inflated it you have to deflate it by hand, which I can't do.

"And she didn't tell me that, according to the instructions, you have to strap yourself on to the bubble.

"If I had known all this I wouldn't have bought it."

Company sales director David Ramsey said most people left the bubble in the bath when it was not in use but Miss Payne wanted to move it each time.

And he said the user did not have to use the straps although it was safer to do so.

"We don't feel under any circumstances we have mis-represented our product," he said.

"The whole crux of the matter is that Miss Payne feels it is untidy left in her bathroom.

"We have offered to exchange it for a more expensive chair at no extra cost but she has refused this."

A West Yorkshire Trading Standards spokesman said: "Although there is nothing wrong with the product, it isn't suitable for the purpose for which it was bought in so much as she can't use it.

"The company is operating in a specialist market, dealing with people who have disabilities and are often elderly, and I think there is an onus on the company to make sure the specific requirements of the individuals are met."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.