MUMS-TO-BE and their relatives fear they have lost hundreds of pounds after a York baby equipment retailer went into liquidation.

CK Buggies, based at Clifton Moor, sold a large range of nursery products, buying in bulk and offering low prices.

The Press reported in 2008 that the business was claiming to have defied the credit crunch with a move to a larger store.

But last week it went into liquidation, to the consternation of mums, pregnant women and their relatives who had ordered prams, buggies, car seats and other items in preparation for the arrival of their babies and were awaiting deliveries.

One York woman, Rose Bonney, of Wigginton, said she had gone to CK Buggies last month to buy equipment for her daughter, who is expecting her first baby in October.

She said she spent £549 buying a package of items, including a pram, buggy and car seat, and had been expecting them to be delivered shortly.

Then she received a phone call last week telling her the firm had gone into liquidation.

She said: “I was really galled, and my daughter was upset for me. I do feel for the company having to go into liquidation, but I have been really worried about whether I will get my money back.”

She said she had paid by VISA debit card and was currently hoping she would be entitled to a refund through a special VISA scheme. She said: “I’m keeping my fingers crossed.”

John Twizell, of Leeds-based insolvency practitioners Geoffrey Martin and Co, who has been appointed liquidator, said yesterday that local customers who had visited the store, and others from further afield who had bought items on the internet, had been affected. He did not yet know how many had been hit, but confirmed it was “more than a handful, but fewer than hundreds”.

He was not yet able to say if people would get some or all of their money back, but the position should be clearer after a creditors’ meeting to be held in York on Friday.

He understood the business’ demise had come about because of a fall in turnover in the wake of the recession.

He urged any creditors who had not yet been contacted by his firm to get in touch as soon as possible.