CHARITY chiefs have paid tribute to a tireless fundraiser who has been left flat broke by the credit crunch.

Leo Flood, 64, raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for worthy causes over more than 30 years, but was forced to put his company, Leo’s Carpets, Cherry Tree, Blackburn, into administration when a high street bank pulled the plug on funding.

The Lancashire Telegraph last week reported Leo’s plight and the loss of 41 jobs.

The financial problems arose when the bank demanded immediate payment of an agreed debt.

Father Jim McCartney, founder and chief executive of Blackburn charity group THOMAS — Those on the Margins of Society — said Leo had done a massive amount of work for the organisation.

He said: “He has been an unsung hero for our charity.

"He has raised upto £16,000 in one night for our organisation and such effort epitomised his caring attitude.”

Solicitor Peter Turner has been a member of Blackburn Lions alongside Leo for 30-years.

He said: “Leo will help anyone and yet this has happened to him. It is so unfair.”

Dorothy McGregor, founder and manager of Maundy Relief, the Accrington-based charity which assists people in need of shelter added: “Leo is a philanthropist with a great heart, an unsung and unheard hero and what has happened to his business seems so unfair.

“We feel so desperately sorry for him, but if there is any justice he will emerge stronger than ever from all of this.”