A WOMAN has blasted Farepak after her family lost nearly £3,000 when the Christmas hamper firm went bust.

Adele Sliwinski, from Great Sutton, is furious that their Christmas has been destroyed and believes customers should be given more protection by their banks when companies collapse.

She is also keen to speak to other victims in the area and is urging people to donate money to the Farepak Response Fund.

Around 150,000 people are estimated to have lost a total of up to £50m when Farepak went under in October.

Mrs Sliwinski said: 'There must be hundreds of Farepak victims in Ellesmere Port.

'I lost £823, which I had saved through my mum who was an agent for the firm. It's ruined our Christmas, especially for my four children.

'As a family we lost a total of £2,873. God knows how much more other families in this area have lost. I would love to hear from them.

'I want to encourage people to make donations into the Farepak fund for all of those who have had Christmas taken away from them. I also urge people to visit the website unfairpak.co.uk, which was set up for customers and agents.'

Mrs Sliwinski is also annoyed that her mother was unable to get a refund from Yorkshire Bank where she used a debit account to transfer cash to Farepak.

She added: 'I spent two days on the telephone to Yorkshire Bank but they would not refund any of the money.

'Mastercard also confirmed that there is no protection system in place for Maestro debit cards and that it is also up to the individual banks as to whether or not they refund their customers.

'Why would you issue this card without stating in the terms and conditions that your money is not protected from situations like these?'

A Yorkshire Bank spokesperson said there are no protection system in place for any debit card and that under the Consumer Credit Act the only accounts that are protected are credit cards.

A Treasury Select Committee report is urging the Government to prevent such situations happening again in future.

MPs are also demanding that more power is given to watchdogs such as the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to safeguard people's money.

* If you are a victim of the Farepak collapse and would like to speak to Adele Sliwinski, e-mail her at pauld.green@ntlworld.com.

Anonymous £500 donation saves family's Christmas

A BUSINESSMAN has saved Christmas for a Little Sutton family who lost hundreds of pounds in the collapse of the Farepak hamper firm.

The man, who prefers to remain anonymous, donated £500 to Sharon Clark after reading of her plight in the Pioneer.

The big-hearted gesture means Sharon can now buy presents for her daughter and grandchild, seven-year-old Jade.

Mrs Clark, of Cedar Avenue, said: 'I can't believe it. It's fantastic news and I can't thank the person enough for giving us this money.'

Sharon has also vowed to spread a little Christmas cheer herself by giving £100 to four of her friends who also lost cash when Farepak went bust in October.