BOSSES at electronics giant Philips have stepped in to ease the blow for redundant workers in the run up to Christmas.

Employees axed at the Blackburn factory accused the firm of acting like Scrooge after being asked to repay loans to the company shop before they received their redundancy money.

Many of the employees claimed they would lose up to half their final wage when the company deducted money owed on electrical goods bought from the Dutch multi-national.

But when the Lancashire Evening Telegraph contacted bosses in Holland about the workers' plight, they agreed to relent. Today, Natalie Bush, one of the women who had feared how her family would cope over Christmas, said she was delighted with the news.

"It is absolutely fantastic," she said. "Christmas will be a lot better for me and a lot of other people thanks to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph."

Philips spokesman Christina Horrocks acknowledged that the company had asked for the money in advance of redundancy payments but said it had not been aware of any problem.

She said it was happy to help the former staff over the Christmas period.

"We will not be taking these payments out of their final salaries," she promised. "It will come off their redundancy pay."

Lesley Wickers, who has worked for Philips for the past eight years, is one of the 76 employees to lose their jobs at the Whitebirk plant.

"It is bad enough losing your job at Christmas, but to be left with hardly any money is adding insult to injury," she said.

Lesley said she was one of many workers who had bought electrical goods from the company shop, with repayments being taken on a weekly basis.

In her case, she owes £200 which she had been told would come out of her final pay packet, covering the last two weeks of the year.

"I have no problem with paying the company what I owe them, but it just seemed like they were making sure they were screwing up our Christmas."

Colleague Mary Dalrymple reckoned she would have been be left with just £150 to pay for food, presents and other household bills after repaying the £180 owed to Philips.