BURNLEY MP Peter Pike has accused businessman Peter Wrinch - owner of Ashworth Diecasting in the town - of deliberately bankrupting the firm.

He made the allegation under the protection of parliamentary privilege in the Commons - three months after the firm closed down with the loss of 90 jobs.

But today the 68-year-old businessman, who says he came out of retirement to save the remnants of his company interests, hit back at "defamatory" comments of the Labour MP and demanded an apology.

The company - Thomas Ashworth and Co on Sycamore Avenue, Burnley - was one of four in the Presbar group which went into receivership this year. The other three were in Manchester.

Receivers have been attempting to find a buyer for the 90-employee business but failed and Mr Pike has been in contact with Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers.

Mr Pike, speaking in the debate on the Queen's Speech, welcomed a new insolvency bill to help companies in financial difficulties and said he hoped it would prevent any repeat of the Ashworth affair.

He told MPs: "In the recent case of Ashworth Diecasting, the director Mr Peter Wrinch took complete ownership of the company and then made it go bankrupt. He was not prepared to sell it to anyone else.

"I hope that the legislation will prevent Mr Wrinch from being a director of any other company and will prevent others from doing the same thing."

But today Mr Wrinch retorted: "If this had not been said with parliamentary privilege, it would have been defamatory. I will be writing to Mr Pike to tell him the facts of the matter - I think he should make a public apology." Mr Wrinch said he had saved the Burnley firm from extinction when he bought it in 1993 and built up its turnover from £2.5 million to £8 million.

"That is hardly the action of a man who is trying to bankrupt a firm," he added.

He said the group had been hit by major economic hammer blows early this year and the group had been placed in receivership.

A management buy-out offer for Ashworth was £750,000 less than break-up value and that money was desperately needed in the attempt to save other parts of the group.

"Far from making anything, I have lost a vast amount of money," he added.

Mr Wrinch said he understood Mr Pike had complained to various regulatory bodies about his conduct.

"These have all looked into my actions and found nothing wrong whatever and no action is being taken against me."

In Parliament Mr Pike also spoke on the new insolvency proposals and said: "If a company is going through genuinely short term problems and the accounts show that the company could be made viable, it is much more sensible to assist the company and allow it to solve those problems than to pressure it and make it go out of business."

Mr Pike also raised the issue of Bellings which went bankrupt in 1992 after the pension fund had been pilfered.

He claimed the first had been "deliberately defrauded by the directors."

He added: "Seven years later, pensioners are still not receiving their due and the problems have not been resolved. That is absolutely appalling."

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