CATERING students at a top college were left fuming after being duped into believing they had won a place in a prestigious review guide.

The would-be chefs and teachers at Runshaw College, Langdale Road, Leyland were delighted when they received a letter from Saga Publishing in London, telling them they had been awarded top marks in a review for The Good Restaurant Guide after critics visited their Foxholes restaurant run by Runshaw.

But joy has turned to dispair - the college has been the victim of an elaborate scam by 'unscrupulous London conmen'.

Trading Standards bosses say Runshaw is one of several local restaurants to have been targeted by the bogus publication.

Chief officer Jim Potts said: "Unfortunately, this award is worth absolutely nothing.

"The unscrupulous company picks a restaurant of out of the phone book and sends out a letter saying how wonderful the establishment is.

"The owners of the restaurant are then urged to pay £20 to have a certificate in their honour. They might sent out a certificate but don't produce a book.

"It is a great shame because these students must have been excited at the thought of winning a prize but this certificate isn't worth the paper it is printed on."

Mr Potts said many restaurants are displaying bogus certificates which they believe are genuine.

Foxholes, staffed by professional caterers and students, scored 48 out of 50, the same score that every other restaurant received. The letter Runshaw received told how Foxholes would see a huge increase in trade if the certificate was displayed.

College spokesman Jim Smith is appalled.

He said: "We were delighted when we thought we had won, and to find out otherwise is devastating.

"We want to alert other restaurants to this con. It has hurt the students." South Ribble Mayor Jim Owen, who sits on the council's Runshaw College Liaison Committee, said: "This is a cheap trick. Something like this is bound to knock their confidence."

Nobody was answering the phone at Saga Publishing, based in St George's Street, London. Earlier this year Trading Standards targeted them when they claimed to be producing a Good Cafe Guide.

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