Former employees of an engineering firm which was forced to shut as a result of a 'spelling mistake' made on a Companies House record believe they should receive some of the £9 million compensation their former boss won from the state agency.
In 2009 Companies House had mistakenly recorded Taylor & Sons Ltd as having wound up, instead of an entirely unconnected company, Taylor & Son Ltd.
The error forced businessman Philip Davison-Sebry to lay off his 250 staff - some of whom had worked for the firm for more than 40 years.
These workers, pictured were all made redundant a decade ago after an official in Companies House made an error which led to the collapse of Taylor & Sons Ltd in 2009. The workers, back row, from left to right, are Wayne Ferrell, 66, Kelvin Pugh, 67 and Robert Preston, 69 and Andrew Davies. Sitting on the front row are Graham Thornton and Hubert Davies
The engineering company from Neath, South Wales collapsed after an official mistook it for a completely unconnected company, Taylor & Son Ltd, which was being wound up. The typo saw 250 people lose their jobs
In 2015, a High Court judge ruled Mr Davison-Sebry should be awarded damages of up to £8.8million. But the court did not consider whether the workers who lost their jobs and wages over the past decade should be compensated.
The company in Neath, South Wales had been operating successfully for more than 150 years when the error destroyed its credit rating sending it rapidly out of business.
Now a group of former employees, all living in the Briton Ferry area of South Wales, have come together to fight their case.
They believe the Companies House error meant they had suffered in retirement. Some lost out in enhanced pension contributions.
Robert Preston, 69, worked in the stores at the engineering firm. He said: 'Companies House have never had to do anything like this before. I believe it's unprecedented.
'Companies House had a duty of care to the people who were affected, but the duty of care to the employees has been completely ignored.
'It's a travesty of justice.'
He calculated that he had lost out on £134k in earnings since he was laid off aged 59.
'Personally, I meant to finish working at 67,' he added.
Businessman Philip Davison-Sebry, pictured, received almost £8 million in compensation from Companies House as a result of their blunder. His former workers only received statutory redundancy after losing their jobs
Wayne Ferrell, 66, who was a manager and had worked at the firm for 41 years said the stress of losing his job affected his health.
He said: 'It was bad for me, because my wife Margaret worked for the company too
