THOUSANDS of pounds are owed by Devon and Cornwall Windows based in Launceston, which went into administration before Christmas.

It was confirmed earlier in the year that a letter had been sent to all known creditors informing them that the company had gone into ‘voluntary liquidation’ and the directors had appointed administration and insolvency company Begbies Traynor. 

The window and glazing company closed its Newport Industrial Estate store and terminated its website and social media pages at the end of November, leaving many customers in the dark over the future of their orders.

Deposits now hang in the balance as and fourteen people have lost their jobs.

It has since been revealed that 222 customers are owed a grand total of £580,000.

Among those affected by the closure was Chris Lloyd of Bude, who paid £3,300 as a deposit for windows that never arrived.

He told BBC Spotlight: “It took a long time to save that money and I’ll never, ever be able to save that money again so now I’m going to have to try and fix the windows up myself one at a time. Many sleepless nights, it’s just too much money to lose.”

Kath and Dave Matthews from Delabole said they had been keen to support a local business, however they feel “like giving up” having used Dave’s pension money to put down a £7,500 deposit.

She told the BBC: “I was absolutely distraught. I was up in Gloucestershire because I’d just lost my mum and it was just like the biggest insult when it came out because on his Facebook page he’d said he’d got upset working for a big, famous window company that was charging old ladies too much money — and that’s why he set up own business and we were quite touched by that.

“We thought we’d go with somebody local, we like to support local businesses and that’s why we chose him.

“We’ve lost that money now and that was Dave’s pension money. It was just the biggest kick in the teeth ever. We honestly felt like giving up.

“We’re stuck now, we’ve got no money to replace what should be done, to put right — the back door leaks like a river when it’s raining.”