A WINDOWS company that ran for more than 30 years has gone into liquidation owing more than £270,000 to suppliers and customers.

Darwen Windows called in the liquidators in December after it was decided the company should be wound up.

At the beginning of January staff were laid off and the Borough Road building where the firm was based was closed.

Customers have now been left with unfinished work and staff say they are owed money.

Ellen Rose, who paid almost £6,000 for new windows and doors, said the company failed to finish the job on her home after starting it in September.

Miss Rose, a 26-year-old mental health worker from Darwen, said: “I ordered my windows in July and they started the work in September and the last bit of work they did was mid-December.

“But it never got finished and they never gave me an official receipt.

“They got nearly £6,000 from me.

“None of my windows are sealed, the back door is wrong – they did a botch job of trying to fit a door that was too small for the frame.

“I have no fan light in my front door and overall it looks a mess.

“To get the work finished it’s going to cost me another £500.”

Miss Rose said Darwen Windows called her repeatedly asking her for money, even though the job was never completed.

She continued: “The day the majority of the work was done they hounded me for money.

“They must’ve called me about 15 times in one day to pay, even though the job wasn’t finished.

“They got around 90 per cent of the total balance so I lost money in the end.

“I work damned hard but I can’t afford to finish the work for a good while.

“It’s my first home and I just want it finished.”

Another Darwen resident said that over the last few weeks, he had seen people coming and going from the former Darwen Windows building, taking supplies and filling vans with equipment.

The resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “There was plastic framing led on the pavement and the skip and yard at the side was piled high with rubbish.”

Darwen Windows appointed Simon Ward Leigh as company director in May 2019, and the Lancashire Telegraph has been led to believe the debts, which include a £55,000 tax bill, £51,000 owed to Custom Glass Ltd in Knowsley, and £35,000 owed to VEKA in Burnley, are being examined by administrators Philmore & Co, of Holmfirth.

Darwen Windows refused to comment and Paul Philmore of Philmore & Co also refused to comment.