An Elstree woman who attempted to collect her property from an electrical repair shop in Borehamwood was furious to discover the business had closed down.

The woman arrived at Alpha TV in Leeming Road on January 13 to find steel shutters and padlocks had been fitted -- no notification of the owner's intention to close or details of his forwarding address had been left.

"At first I thought they might have closed half day but someone told me the shop had been closed. I was furious and waited for him to arrive as someone said he was coming to hand over his keys to the council, but no-one turned up," she said.

The woman then telephoned Hertsmere Borough Council's estates department who told her that they could not release the owner's details, but would forward any correspondence on her behalf.

The customer, who wishes to remain anonymous, dropped her daughter's Walkman off for repair at the shop on December 21. She was told the item would not be ready before Christmas and was charged a £15 deposit towards the cost of repair.

After returning from holiday, the woman realised the shop had not yet telephoned her to say the item was ready for collection. She also discovered the cheque for the deposit had been cashed on January 5.

"I was absolutely livid to find out the owner had cashed my cheque and left me with no way of getting in contact with him. I only went down there when I couldn't get through on the phone -- the number was unobtainable. I just assumed the owner would get in touch when he had repaired the item," she said.

The woman eventually managed to track down the owner's details and sent him a letter on January 14 asking for her property and deposit to be returned.

"Ian Dunk called me a few days later. I've since had my property returned but I feel very strongly that other people will not know how to get their possessions back."

Speaking on Monday, Mr Dunk said that he had informed his customers before Christmas of his intention to close the business.

"There were notices in the shop a few months back and customers were told verbally that we would not be trading anymore. My last day was December 24 and to the best of my knowledge there is still a notice in the window," he said.

Mr Dunk added that he had been in contact with most of his customers but there were still "half a dozen customers" who he had not yet contacted.

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