A LEYLAND woman has sent out a warning to all would be homeworkers looking for extra Christmas cash: "Don't be conned like I was."

Lisa Gilbey sent £35 to a Chesterfield-based firm, Classic Marketing who were offering to pay staff £50 for every 100 envelopes stuffed on behalf of the company.

Seasoned homeworker Lisa paid the registration fee, but heard nothing from the firm.

After unsuccessfully trying to contact Classic Marketing on Monday Lisa rang Chesterfield Police, who told her they had been flooded with complaints about the firm.

Now she wants to ensure no-one else is tricked, adding that she is now trying to blocking the cheque.

She said: "This was the first time I have sent money in advance to a homeworking company and I won't be doing it again.

"It was only when I looked at the address earlier this week and realised it was a bit odd. The street name, Stone Gravels, seemed a bit unusual.

"I tried calling them and when I couldn't trace them I contacted the police."

Jim Potts, Lancashire's chief trading standards officer, said: "When we did a survey of the homeworking firms targeting Lancashire, we found all of them to be scams.

"We are aware of Classic Marketing and would tell people to stay away from them. We have no proof that people can make money from them."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.