CUSTOMERS of a Greenock kids' clothing boutique have been left hundreds of pounds out of pocket after it suddenly closed down.

Chateaux De Chez in the town centre closed its doors and wiped its social media accounts without explanation.

Furious father Connor McCafferty, 27, who had £100 of store credit, said that the store had 'betrayed' its customers.

He told the Telegraph that he felt staff had been deceptive about the state of the business when he visited the store last month.

Connor said: "I went in with a £100 gift card about a month ago, to buy some outfits for my son Lucas to wear to my wedding in Greece next year.

"I was told by the staff that the gift cards don't expire and that we should come back in a few months and spend it when the sale was on.

"They had to have known then that the business was in trouble, I feel like they've deceived me.

"We were in the shop and we could have spent our money, but we were turned away and now we can't.

"I'm not the only one who's had this experience - I know of people who went in right before the shop closed and were told that they should come back to spend their credit later.

"There are some folk I know that are £300 or £400 out of pocket.

"The owners should have had the decency to let people know what was going on."

Mr McCafferty is one of many former customers of the boutique who have been trying to get their credit refunded.

Several customers said that they had accumulated the store credit through gift cards, refunds and as prizes through bonus ball schemes.

But the owners of the shop say it has been placed in liquidation.

Mr McCafferty says that the boutique could have alerted shoppers to the impending legal action to let them spend their credit.

He added: "They've went about this the wrong way - they had a very loyal customer base and they've stabbed them in the back by leaving them in the dark.

"Their name is sullied in this town as far as I'm concerned.

"I would still have been annoyed if they'd told us everything, but I think people would have understood.

"I do have empathy for their position, their whole business is down the drain.

"But Chateaux De Chez was probably one of the biggest baby boutiques in the area and loads of people will be left out of pocket because of this.

"I understand that they'll have been feeling the pinch, but so are their customers.

"There could be single mothers and single fathers that have saved up to get something for their kids and now they've been left empty-handed.

"You don't expect the owners of a baby boutique to be the ones that mess people up like this."