THE Global holiday saga took an unexpected tartan twist today after the firm suddenly closed down its English headquarters.

Global Discovery Club (Scotland) Ltd said it was willing to help out North Yorkshire people who have paid thousands of pounds to join the separate English Global Discovery Club but failed to get the cheap luxury holidays they were promised.

The Scottish club's area manager Yvette Cabrini said in a statement faxed to the Evening Press: "We are aiming to help out with the servicing of the English club members' holidays, who are willing to book holidays according to our Scottish members' booking arrangements."

But she was not able to explain clearly at this stage how the English and Scottish club's arrangements differed.

And Global's York customers, some of whom have been waiting up to a year for their cheap holidays to materialise, were suspicious of the offer. One said he just wanted his money back.

Miss Cabrini was not able to give clear news of the position of Global Vacations, which ran the English Discovery Club.

Two readers contacted the Evening Press last week to say they had rung Global Vacations' head office in Manchester, only to be told that the firm had ceased trading and had "gone bust". But when the paper phoned the Manchester office last week, staff denied the claims, saying only that the operation was being "moved to Scotland."

Miss Cabrini said English members would be contacted by the Scottish club over the next fortnight, but a helpline had already been set up which they could use to obtain relevant information, by calling Fran or Cath on 079 301 24842, or 01204 392 986.

Global was asked last Friday night to attend a public meeting which the Evening Press has organised and at which worried Global customers will be given advice by York trading standards officers and civil litigation expert Toby Conyers-Kelly, of York solicitors Hetherton & Dempsey.

Miss Cabrini said her company was "obviously busy at the moment", and would not be able to attend the meeting. "But we do intend to hold a members' evening in York in the very near future," she said.

York trading standards chief Colin Rumford today advised people to treat the Scottish scheme with a degree of caution.

A Global customer who paid out £4,500 to join the English club - but was then quoted a price for a holiday higher than in an ordinary travel agent's brochure - was not impressed by the Scottish offer. He said: "I am very suspicious." But he would look into the matter to see if it in any way improved his chances of getting his money back.

The public meeting will take place at the Tempest Anderson Hall, in Museum Gardens, York, on Wednesday, starting at 7.30pm.