Co–op ring–fences Christmas savings

The Co-operative said it has stepped up protection for people paying into its Christmas saving stamps scheme by launching a trust to ring-fence their cash.

The supermarket retailer will today say it has been working on the scheme with members of the Farepak Victims Committee and the move comes as a response to concerns about customers being left out of pocket following the collapse of high-street names.

The changes mean that when a customer buys a savings stamp in-store, the money received for it will be transferred into a trust account which will be managed independently until the stamp is redeemed.