A YARM Saddle Club member is warning other riders of a scam which duped her out of an entry free for a bogus competition series.

Yvonne Brookes saw the Royal Wembley Masters Series 2000/01 advertised in the claiming dates of the Yorkshire Post last year. In November she sent for a schedule from the organiser, a Stacy Walker, at an address in Leeds.

"Lots of attractive prizes were on offer including a dressage saddle," she said. "The venues were all popular centres including Mill Lane Stable, Moorhouse, Northallerton Equestrian Centre and Birchinley Manor.

"I paid an entry fee of £12 and joined the series for the sum of £20, a total of £32. When I rang for my times for the Northallerton venue on November 11, I was told it had been cancelled due to wet weather.

I was assured of the return of my £32. It was not forthcoming. Several phone calls and letters later, I now realise I was duped."

The organisers failed to turn up at Birchinley Manor on the day and cancelled the day before the competition at Northallerton.

"I don't hold out much hope of getting my money back but I don't want anyone else to fall for this scam either," said Yvonne.

"The woman I spoke to sounded very plausible and genuine and could easily take others for a 'ride'.

"Dressage entries are usually taken on a pre-entry basis so that the organisers can allocate times to competitors. Therefore, they no doubt received many entry fees, possibly hundreds. If they averaged £15-£20 or more, then they are sitting on quite a hefty sum of money."

A spokesman for the Northallerton centre confirmed they had tried to get a £50 cancellation fee back from the organisers, but without success.

North Yorkshire Trading Standards said the case appeared to involve a breach of contract and it could only advise on how to try to recover the lost money