A bank has imposed its own safety rules for customers of outside wall texture company Midlands Coatings Co Ltd - after a Rights and Wrongs story.

The First National Bank - which provides credit finance arrangements for Midland Coatings - says it is "extremely concerned" about the reports on the company which have appeared in the T&A.

It has now decided to phone each customer applying for credit to make sure they want to go ahead. And it will make special checks on applications from people who are over 60 years old or who have no regular source of income.

Last week Rights and Wrongs told how ex-Midland Coatings salesman Ben Bridgestock claimed the company targeted the elderly and he had been told to sell only to elderly people who had no "third party interference" from relatives.

Mr Bridgestock also claimed trainees were told to create a feeling of "fear and urgency" in potential customers about the state of their home so they would buy the company's products.

All his claims were denied by the company, which regularly sends salesmen into the Bradford area.

The T&A also highlighted complaints from relatives of elderly people who had been visited by Midland Coatings' salesmen.

First National Bank also supplies credit facilities for Texstore Ltd - another Leeds-based coating company highlighted in the T&A after a 65-year-old Bradford woman and her 95-year-old mother were persuaded to sign a credit agreement for nearly £5,000.

A bank spokesman said: "We check all our suppliers very carefully but we cannot control how the sales force operate when they are with customers.

"We were extremely concerned to hear these reports. We have investigated each individual complaint made regarding Texstore and Midland Coatings.

"These investigations have focused only on their compliance with the Consumer Credit Act and the principles of engaging in fair sales process.

"Due to these investigations, we have decided firstly to telephone every customer of the companies and check they are happy before paying money to the supplier and secondly not to finance any customer over the age of 60 or who is without a regular source of income before we have carried out stringent checks. If First National Bank receives )any further complaints regarding these companies, we will look into taking further action. We are very grateful to you and your newspaper for bringing this to our attention."

Mr Bridgestock claimed he left the job after three days selling when he was told to get a sale from an elderly Bradford woman.

He said he told her to spend the money on holidays and not her house and then phoned the company to tell them he was resigning.

Mr Bridgestock was surprised to learn from Rights and Wrongs that the company says he was sacked for gross misconduct - even though he says he has a letter from the company confirming his resignation and his decision to terminate his employment.

The lady he saw, 72-year-old Mrs Dorothy Holgate, has since contacted Rights and Wrongs.

"He was one of the nicest, most polite lads I have ever had come to my house," she said. "I never told the company he had said I should spend the money on myself and not the house."

Midland Coatings' solicitor, Bradford-based Philip Hirst, said: "Midland Coating believe they comply with the Consumer Credit Act and with the principles of fair trading and as a result do not consider that the First National Bank position will affect them at all."

Texstore Ltd managing director and owner Marc Jones welcomed the bank's proposals. "I think it's a fantastic idea," he said. "I am behind it 100 per cent."

You read it first in Rights and Wrongs!

This week a national newspaper has published a three-page report about householders facing outstanding Abbey National mortgage debts years after having their homes repossessed.

The story revealed how the Abbey repossessed the homes and sold them for less than the mortgage amount - and then chased the couples for the outstanding debt years later.

But the practice was highlighted by Rights and Wrongs in June when we told the story of Pauline and James Kirk who were unable to keep up with the repayment of their £40,030 endowment mortgage.

Their home in Bradford was repossessed by the Abbey in 1991 and sold two years later for £25,750, leaving a £14,280 shortfall which they had not got.

The couple thought the debt had been wiped out because they heard nothing for years.

But they did not know that the law says they are liable for up to 12 years because the debt arose from a mortgage based on deeds.

Out of the blue last year they were told they still owed £14,280 - and all the extras including more than £16,000 interest on the debt.

After being contacted by Rights and Wrongs, the Abbey has finally agreed a substantial reduction in the amount the couple have to repay.

Slim chance of losing any weight this way

"Miracle" slimming patches are being offered to Bradford residents by a Swiss mail order company - with the chance of a £20,000 handout.

Rights and Wrongs reader Cora Browning (pictured left) received a mailshot at her home in Fairweather Green - and she was tempted to send off a cheque.

The Bradford Royal Infirmary staff nurse said: "I'm trying to slim and I really do want to lose weight - I go to slimming classes every week.

"This offer promises you can lose 6lb in two days with these patches and they say they are four times faster than the most powerful diet and six times faster than exercise regimes. It's very tempting to send off for them."

The company, Ambassador Service, offers 14 Turbo slimming patches for £19.99p, 28 for £34.95p and 56 for £64.95.

It claims they contain plant extracts called fucus and a skin-activated agent "to aid natural elimination of fats".

The mailshot also claims you are guaranteed £20,000 if you return the form - and your number is the winner in a prize draw.

Bradford Hospitals Trust community dietician Deborah Wyles said neither she nor her colleagues had ever heard of fucus or been able to find any reference to it.

"If the body could lose that much weight that quickly, you would probably feel ill," she said.

"I am highly sceptical - very dubious.

"Technically we don't see how they can work. The only way you can lose weight is to eat less and increase exercise but this tells you to do neither - you just stick a patch on."

West Yorkshire Trading Standards officers advise recipients to be wary about sending money abroad to firms that do not come under British law and UK regulations.

"People should treat this sort of letter and these patches with extreme caution," a spokesman said.

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