AN UNEMPLOYED North Yorkshire woman has spoken of her anger after she was left waiting for a 'free' holiday won in a grand prize draw.

In Thursday's Evening Press, we reported how dozens of York residents had sent money off to UK Consumer Competitions to claim the top prize.

The letter had told them that all they had to do to claim their certificate - offering them a free seven-day holiday in Spain, Portugal or the Canary Islands - was send the company a processing fee of £29.50 per person. It said the certificate would be valid for holidays taken within 18 months.

York trading standards said they had received complaints from about 50 people who had sent off their money but not yet been given their holiday in the sun.

Tracy Ward, of Kelcbar Close, in Tadcaster, contacted the paper to tell how she too had received a letter telling her she was a lucky prizewinner.

She thought it spelled a change of luck after she lost her job from a Tadcaster paper firm in January.

Tracy said she sent off £59 so she and her mother could go away. She said she spoke to the company shortly after the letter arrived but has heard nothing from them since. She claimed she had called several times but only got through to recorded messages.

"I'm starting to worry that I won't see that money again, let alone go on holiday," Tracy said.

"When I spoke to them first time around I wanted to make sure there were no extra costs, with me being unemployed and everything.

"They said there wouldn't be, so I sent the money off.

"I've heard nothing back, and it's impossible to get hold of them."

Tracy says she now feels "awful, quite angry" about the whole thing.

"I hope this doesn't happen to anyone else," she added.

The Evening Press tried several times to ring the claim line Tracy used. A recorded message said the number was not recognised.

Updated: 13:25 Monday, August 13, 2001