EMPLOYEES and sub-contractors have been left owed hundreds of thousands of pounds after Baltic Conservatories went into administration with the loss of up to 130 jobs.

Workers at the company's premises on the Bickland Industrial Estate, Falmouth and Long Rock in Penzance were told that the company had gone into administration and that they would not be paid the wages they were due the next day.

Many workers left angrily when the announcement was made while those who remained were asked by the administrators Grant Thornton to pack their things and leave immediately.

Angry workers gathered outside the offices claiming that senior management had known for weeks that the company was going to fold but had not told them.

Margaret Wellings from Falmouth, who until that morning had been working in the account's department, said she now wouldn't be able to go to the West Midlands to her three month old grandson's christening.

"I work in the account's department and for the last three weeks I have been trying to keep the suppliers happy believing that they would be paid by the end of this month," she said.

"There will be a lot of suppliers who cannot bear these losses by not being paid and will go into receivership themselves. The staff are absolutely devastated. People were outside just in tears. They cannot pay their rent or their mortgage. They were relying on their wages."

She said 30 staff had been moved from Penzance to Falmouth on Monday and therefore thought everything was OK.

Up to 30 installation teams had still been operating up and down the country and sub contractors still building conservatories were not going to get paid.

"It's disgusting," said former installation officer Mark McDonnell.

Mr McDonnell said that many of the fitters would not only not get the money they were owed but would also have to pay for the petrol they'd used to get to jobs, in some cases as much as £300.

Owner Tony Murtagh, who last year was names in the Sunday Times rich list, bought the struggling company two years ago and has since used £8 million of his own money to prop up the business giving the workers a stay of execution.

He said he could not go on funding it as there had been unforseen problems but the administrators said staff would be paid and customers would have their deposits returned.

Richard Hawes from administrators Grant Thornton said the business needed to be closed after attempts to restructure it had failed.

He said the company had had some financial and production problems for some time and the business was no longer viable.

He said he would focus on paying the employees and refunding the deposits from recent customers, which had been held in trust.