A BUILDING and property maintenance company in Canterbury has ceased trading and laid off 20 staff. But a director of the business, Meridian Building Services, which did work for housing associations, has denied that any customers have been left in the lurch.

The company is based in Jackson Road, Canterbury, and the operation is now continuing under a new name. Director Ian Cowell said MBS had not yet been wound up but may be in the future. "We are still tidy up some things but no clients have been left in the lurch and we are still sorting out affairs," he said.