THE boss of a publishing company which collapsed owing thousands of pounds to would-be authors has re-emerged trading under a new name.

John Anthony Phillips was the director of Bishop Auckland-based vanity publisher Pentland Press, which was placed into voluntary liquidation last year.

The company has been the subject of legal actions and complaints to Trading Standards officers from writers claiming to have lost money after paying for their book to be published and being told they would recover their outlay.

The Northern Echo has since learned that Mr Phillips, now calling himself Anthony Phillips, has set up a new vanity publisher, Raby Books, whose address is given as The Coach House, Eggleston Hall, Eggleston, Barnard Castle.

In the company's literature it asks would-be authors to make payments running into thousands of pounds.

They are promised that, upon publication, they will begin recovering their outlay almost immediately.

Included in the agreement authors are asked to sign is a reference to Raby Books (HWMS Ltd).

Checks with Companies House reveal that Mr Phillips is a director of HWMS Ltd, whose registered address is also given as Eggleston Hall, Eggleston, Barnard Castle.

He took up the directorship on December 12, a week after the application to place Pentland Press into liquidation.

London solicitor Maria Franco, who represented an author who won £18,000 in a claim for breach of contract against Pentland Press, said: "People handed money over and signed a contract and were made promises that were not kept. They were mostly retired, elderly people, many of whom were just not in a position to pursue the company."

A reporter contacted Raby Books but was unable to speak to Mr Phillips.

A further phone call was met by an answering machine.

A spokesman for Companies House said that Mr Phillips was entitled to continue to trade as a vanity publisher.

He said: "He is not a disqualified director and can set up as many businesses as he wants."

Frazer Davie, a spokesman for County Durham Trading Standards, said they had received more than a dozen complaints about Pentland Press.

They were passing them on to the liquidator, Sunderland-based Tenon Recovery.

No complaints had been received about Raby Books