A WINDOW and conservatory company has gone out of business with substantial debts.

The directors of Energy Efficient Windows Ltd, based in Cramlington, Northumberland, decided to wind the company up after a downturn in business, shedding 50 jobs.

It owes about £830,000, but has no money to pay back creditors, which include other small companies and householders who have paid deposits for work.

The company was based on the Nelson Park Industrial Estate, in Cramlington, but traded from the Borders to York.

It began trading as Dennis Nicholson Windows and Conservatories in 1992, and changed its name to Energy Efficient Windows in 1999.

At that time, the firm employed 60 people full-time and had annual sales of £3m.

In a statement to creditors last month, the company's directors said: "During the first quarter of 2005, there was a well-documented downturn in the replacement windows and conservatory market.

"During what would normally have been a very busy period for the company, the business suffered a 50 per cent downturn in orders."

Ian Kings, of Tenon Recovery, based in Ferryboat Lane, Sunderland, was appointed liquidator on April 22.

He confirmed the firm owed about £830,000, and said that included money owed to a bank and employees.

No one at the company could be contacted for comment. A notice on the factory door said the premises has been repossessed.

A spokesman for Northumberland County Council said it had so far received about 15 complaints from householders about unfinished work in relation to Energy Efficient Windows Ltd.