A Bury retail boss has been banned after claiming a £40,000 loan that she was not entitled to.

Chantelle Haworth, 31, claimed a government coronavirus bounce back loan (BBL) after misrepresenting the annual turnover of her business, government agency The Insolvency Service found.

The BBL was a scheme put in place to help small and medium-sized businesses take out a loan of up to £50,000 to help them through the pandemic.

Mrs Haworth, of Rochdale Road, Bury, was a director of Your Everlasting Rose (Rose) and misrepresented her company’s annual turnover by 44 times its real amount to secure the loan.

The Insolvency Service said the co-director of the company applied for the BBL, stating the company’s turnover was £160,000 in 2019, when the real figure was just £3,591.

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A report published by The Insolvency Service said: “Mrs Haworth’s co director applied for a BBL of £40,000 on behalf of Rose declaring that its turnover for the calendar year 2019 was £160,000.

"Rose filed accounts for the periods ending March 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020 which show turnover of £3,591 and £4,827 respectively.

“Rose’s bank statements show total credits of £6,369.98 for the 2019 calendar year.

"Under the BBL scheme, the minimum loan amount available was £2,000 which required a turnover of £8,000.

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“Therefore, Rose was not entitled to apply for a BBL and received £40,000 more BBL funds than it was entitled to. Rose received BBL funds of £40,000 on January 15, 2021.

“On November 15, 2022, Rose entered creditor’s voluntary liquidation with total liabilities of £34,026.45, of which £33,999.97 was owed in respect of the BBL.”

Mrs Haworth was disqualified from being a company director for nine years and her business has been referred to a liquidator.