A GET-RICH business club has left its mark on people from all walks of life in East Lancashire.

Lancashire Evening Telegraph investigations have revealed that ordinary members of the public as well as businessmen have joined the Titan scheme, which has been labelled a scam by MPs.

The club uses secret meetings to recruit members, who are asked to make a down payment of £2,500.

They are then told to recoup their cash by introducing friends and colleagues to the scheme.

One member who has contacted the Evening Telegraph anonymously claimed they made £21,000 in eight weeks before "packing it in."

But Trading Standards officials have warned that, as the scheme grows, people have less chance of getting their money back. And the Department of Trade and Industry has begun a winding-up petition against the club in the High court.

Local people who have become aware of the club include a former league soccer player who said: "I know of several people who are involved.

"I have been approached to join and it sounded an attractive proposition but I can see the potential problems.

"I think it is very unfair the way it has been highlighted. "People should be able to do their own homework on it."

And a pub landlady in the Blackburn area said: "I am aware of Titan but I think that whether I am a member or not is nothing to do with you.

"I know a lot of people who have joined."

A Burnley solicitor's office worker said he knew of people who had made £13,000 a month, tax free, in six months through the scheme before it had grown to its current size.

He said he had been taken to a meeting at the Nynex Arena in Manchester last month but had refused to join the scheme.

He added: "I saw through it, but you would be amazed at how many people are involved."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.