MORE than six years after a York travel and hotel company collapsed, unsecured creditors are finally set to get some of their money back.

Greenfield Holdings, which owned Rainbow Holidays and the Croft Hotels group, called in the receivers in late 1996.

Croft Hotels then owned six hotels, including Elm Bank on The Mount, York, and Fairfield Manor on the A19 north of York.

Rainbow Holidays specialised in UK short-break and overseas holidays.

It was grounded by the Civil Aviation Authority, which did not believe it could meet its obligations.

It was said at the time that Greenfield, based at Ryedale House in Piccadilly, had borrowed heavily at the height of a property boom, causing significant financial pressure, leading to the collapse.

Now, liquidator Ernst &Young has written to all creditors to say that the distribution of money to unsecured creditors will finally be made by September.

The letter says that surplus funds are available from the receivership of the company after payment of debts to secured creditors Barclays Bank and of the costs of the receivership.

It says £100,000 of surplus money was received into Croft Hotels in August 2000, and a further surplus of £1.3 million was received in February this year, when Rainbow Holidays received a surplus of £700,000.

In April, Ernst & Young withdrew £50,000 in remuneration in respect of both Croft and Rainbow.

A spokeswoman was unable to say how much of the money owed to creditors would be paid out.

She said it depended partly on how many of those eligible to make a claim did so.

However, she did reveal that the amount available to be paid out came to about a quarter of the total amount owed.

She was unable to say whether Rainbow's creditors included people who had booked holidays in 1996 and lost their money.

But the Evening Press reported just after the company's crash that customers who had booked holidays in advance would be fully reimbursed for their lost trips.

Ernst & Young has stressed that the Rainbow Holidays concerned in the case is not related to Rainbow Holidays 1997 Limited, which is now part of First Choice Holidays plc based in Sussex.

A meeting of creditors will take place at the company's offices in Leeds on June 26, although the company warns that it will be for formal purposes only and no more information will be presented.

Updated: 10:45 Monday, June 09, 2003