BURY customers left out of pocket by the collapse of hamper company Farepak have been urged not to salvage their Christmas by turning to doorstep cash lending firms.

East Lancs Moneyline, which has an office in the Mosses Centre, Bury, has issued the warning amid reports that around 40,000 of Farepak's clients and agents nationwide are from the North West.

Among the disgruntled customers is a Heywood man left more than £500 out of pocket due to Farepak's crash.

Since January, Mr Stephen Davenport and wife Margaret paid Farepak more than £50 a month and were two payments away from meeting the full £590 cost of Christmas foodstuffs and vouchers.

He said: "We owed £74 for our orders of meat and poultry for the festive period and for high street vouchers. Now, we won't get these. We have two daughters, aged 12 and 14.

"We only found out Farepak had gone bust via the internet. We've had no communication whatsoever from the administrators. No-one had the decency to put anything in the post to us."

Mr Davenport, whose wife was once an agent for Farepak, is now resigned to losing all the money paid to the firm which went into administration.

He said: "We're up the creek without a paddle. When children of affected parents are writing letters to Santa, listing the presents they want, how are they going to tell their kids what has happened? People are asking us how we feel. What we say is, how would you feel?"

Meanwhile, East Lancs Moneyline (ELM) say they may be able to bring some "comfort and joy" to local victims of the crash. ELM, which has separate offices in Blackburn, Burnley and Accrington, is a not-for-profit community reinvestment trust.

Spokesman Phil Duckworth said: "While we cannot gift the money they have lost, we will do our best to offer all former Farepak customers affordable loans. We can also offer them an interest-paying savings account for Christmas 2007 and debt advice.

"We help by providing money advice and reasonable rate borrowing. If any former Farepak customers have been refused credit by a high street bank or building society, I urge them to come and see us. "

He admitted some people could seek other methods of borrowing money, and continued: "This includes the like of doorstep cash lending companies that can charge up to 200 per cent interest on loans."