Trading standards chiefs are trying to trace the boss of a mobile phone shop after customers complained they were owed money on a cash back deal.

Officers have received about a dozen complaints from people who claim cheques from the shop did not arrive or were not cleared by their banks.

One customer, taxi driver Javed Najib, claims he is £80 out of pocket after a cheque he was given by the Talk2Us shop in Manchester Road, Bradford, was not honoured.

And father-of-two Mr Najib, of Dorset Close, Little Horton, said the shop now appeared to be closed.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Trading Standards said it had received complaints from customers of the shop who had signed up for cash back offers but had not got payments. He said: "The inquiries we have received all relate to the shop in Bradford and consumers are telling us that the shop has now closed.

"It could either have been done fraudulently or the company has gone out of business. If the company has been wound up with few assets there is not a lot we can do."

The spokesman said there were no large amounts of money involved but they were keen to discuss the company's position with the director, who is listed at Companies House as Asiam Sardar.

He added: "The indications are there is no-one at the premises. If it is a limited company and it has failed, the chances of getting anything back are remote."

He said Trading Standards had been contacted by colleagues in Middlesbrough who had received a similar complaint about the company.

Mr Najib, 42, said: "They gave me a phone with line rental and 300 free minutes of talk time during the week and 3,000 minutes at the weekend and said I would get £80 cash back each month for the first six months.

"The offer sounded beautiful. I needed a new phone so I took it on."

Mr Najib received his first bill, for £109, after two weeks and paid it in cash at his bank.

He said: "I went to the shop and they said they would put the cash back money into my bank account and they took my bank details.

"Nothing happened for a week so I went back to the shop and they gave me a cheque. But the bank has returned it, saying the account has closed.

"Since then I have been to the shop twice a day but it appears to be closed, with shutters over the windows.

"I have been in touch with trading standards. This is a lot of money to me. I have a family and a mortgage and bills to pay.

"The owner told me I would have my money in seven days - that was four weeks ago."

A message on the shop's phone number said it was not recognised when the Telegraph & Argus tried to contact it.