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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Jonathan Geddes

Lanarkshire community group delighted after bank refunds them nearly £2000 lost in scam

A Lanarkshire community group's plans are back on track - after they were refunded nearly £2000 they'd lost to a scammer.

The Burnhill Action Group in Rutherglen had lost nearly a year's worth of funding after they paid £1990 for a shipping container to store equipment for their community garden that is being developed.

However after paying up to the company ABE Transport, who claimed they provided shipping containers across the country, the group never received what they had paid for, while calls and emails went unanswered and their website went down.

Virgin Bank recently told organisers at Burnhill that as there was no money left in the account the funds had been transferred to, they would not be able to take the matter any further.

However this week, and just days after Lanarkshire Live spotlighted their story, the group were contacted for a second time by the bank.

This time they were informed that the bank would be able to refund them the money lost, meaning they can move ahead with their plans for the garden, based in the "High Backs" area of Burnhill.

Lizzy Mcdonald, who founded the Burnhill Action Group, told us : "It's such a relief. We got the message this morning and couldn't believe it.

"It totally eases the pressure for us, as we were looking at starting all over again with the fundraising.

"We are just delighted, especially for the kids. You always try and think good things happen for good people and that's happened here.

"We'll go locally now to try and buy the container we'll need. We want to try and and speak to someone face to face this time."

Lizzy, who started the Burnhill project to try and give people in the area something to do, said that the experience was also a learning one for the volunteers.

She added: "It's a- learning experience.

"We've had a lot from the bank about online safety and paying for things online which we'll use in the future.

"The important thing is getting the money back for the kids."

Lanarkshire Live had contacted Virgin Bank regarding the matter last week, but they did not offer a comment on the situation at the time.

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