DOZENS of spectacle-wearers were left in the dark when a Hoyland opticians shut without warning. Several elderly customers complained to the Chronicle after they paid deposits in excess of £90 for glasses they never received.

One furious client spent £290 on a pair she wore for less than a day. Ruth Bailey, 58, of Greenside Lane, Hoyland, took them into be adjusted over four weeks ago and has never seen them since.

She said: "I really want my money back. If they're not going to open then I'm not going to use them again. I can't afford to pay another £290 out on a new pair.

"I ordered them and then I only wore them for half a day as they weren't right. I've just had a brain tumour and that might be why they needed changing. I took them back and they sent them away and I haven't heard anything since."

The shutters have been down at Neil MacArthur Opticians, King Street, since the start of February. Customers who tried to reach the shop by phone were greeted by an answering machine message saying the system is full and cannot accept any more messages.

The business has been registered under at least six different names in the last three years, despite trading under the one name at the Hoyland branch.

A number of those registered companies have been dissolved. One of them went into liquidation, it also failed to register its accounts with Companies House.

The Chronicle has learned that of the company's six other branches, the only one still open is in Wakefield and a member of staff said that is up for sale.

The company's records at Companies House do not name individual directors, but a former employee, who won her case to claim almost £1,000 in unpaid wages at an employment tribunal, said the boss was a man named Tal Hussain.

The receptionist, who asked not to be named, quit her job when she became fed up with how the company was being run.