POLICE are probing former Greenock law firm McClure's in connection with alleged fraudulent activity linked to family protection trusts.

A solicitor acting on behalf of a campaign group met with officers last week to register their complaint of criminal activity against the failed law firm, which collapsed back in 2021.

After the company - which had its HQ in Nicolson Street - went out of business people with homes in trusts struggled to sell the properties, while others have racked up thousands of pounds in legal costs.

Campaigners from the group Victims of McClure Solicitors say it is going to cost the clients of the company 'millions' to untangle the problems.

After McClure's went into administration, another law firm, Jones Whyte, took on its files.

The Telegraph has recently reported how Inverclyde MSP Stuart McMillan has arranged information events for ex-clients affected by the situation, with hundreds of people turning up and many still in the dark.

One Gourock couple, who don't want to be named, have told the Tele how they signed up for a trust through McClure's in 2016.

The man said: "Police are investigating it, what happened is a huge deal.

"Stuart McMillan has done a cracking job in campaigning on this, it is believed 90,000 people have been affected by it all over the world.

"Over the last three years the stress, anxiety and uncertainty has been unbelievable.

"It's an absolute mess. I am pleased police are looking into the case, someone needs to be held to account. There are so many victims. It's horrendous.

"The main reason for a lot of people going to McClure's is they said once you paid the initial fee, you would have no further expense.

"It was only by default, speaking to other people, that we found out that Jones Whyte taken over their affairs.

"There are so many people affected in Inverclyde they have opened an office in Ardgowan Square."

Police Scotland has confirmed that an investigation is under way.

A spokesperson the Telegraph: “Officers attended a meeting with representatives of the action group on Friday 9 February.

“An assessment of correspondence and the information gathered is ongoing.”

A statement issued on behalf of Andrew Robertson, the former managing director of McClure's, said: "Unfortunately, we are not in a position to discuss any individual cases because of very strict rules of client confidentiality which we respect. 

 "We provided clients with over 20,000 trusts and, like most businesses, occasionally something went wrong. But that happened only occasionally and when it happened, we put it right at our expense and compensated the client if there was any loss. 

 "Clients should not fear that money has been wasted. The trust was and remains a good service, it had many benefits and the fact that McClure no longer exists does not affect the legal validity of the trust.  

 "We dispute that clients were misled to pay for a trust. It was our responsibility to advise clients but it was left to them to decide whether or not they wished to have a trust.

"From 2019, each meeting with one of our consultants was recorded with the client's consent so that management could monitor that no undue pressure was being brought to bear. No one is more disappointed that McClure’s became unsustainable due to Covid restrictions than me. "