FORMER staff at a home care company have been given a timely boost after council chiefs paid their outstanding wages.

Cleeve Link staff have been battling to receive their wages for February and the first week of March ever since the provider went into voluntary liquidation on March 7.

Worcestershire County Council staff have now paid the staff in the county their wages.

The council's actions follow in the footsteps of Gloucestershire County Council, who paid the former staff at Cleeve Link in Gloucestershire their wages last month.

Staff are now working at TLC Home Care Services in Evesham.

A Worcestershire County Council spokesperson said: "The staff that were left without pay, following the collapse of Cleeve Link, have contacted Worcestershire County Council and, in acknowledgement of the financial hardship caused by their situation, we have offered to make a payment of the amount requested to them.

"We've been in conversation with their new employer and the money will be paid to them in due course."

Corina Moldovan, a former staff member at Cleeve Link and based in Evesham had told how repeated calls to the liquidator for the company to receive wages had fallen on deaf ears.

She said: "I phoned the liquidator, and he said that our wages cannot be paid as they do not have access to files showing how much we have worked, even though I still have my schedule for that month.

"They did not give any notice of closure, they just closed their phones and offices.

"The liquidator claimed that he didn't have access to Cleeve Link files and they don't know how many hours we worked. It's easy to see our schedules as we still have our rotas and also to phone the clients to check that we worked."