Brits who invested in a UK motorhome business have been left £7million out of pocket after the company went into administration with more than 100 vehicles "missing".
UnbeatableHire Limited used the loans to buy motorhomes, promising to give lenders all of their money back and returns of up to 10% a year once the business was off the ground.
But lenders have been out of pocket since the company went into administration in 2019 and 123 motorhomes have now been reported missing.
UnbeatableHire Limited made its money by renting motorhomes to holidaymakers under its most recognised name, Motorholme.
The BBC, which carried out an investigation into the firm, found people were invited to lend the company up to £36,000 a time, with each loan secured against an individual motorhome that would be bought with their money.
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The lenders were told if anything went wrong, they could always claim the motorhome, with their right to it listed in a legal document called a chattel mortgage, which was filed at Companies House.
However, in December 2019, the company filed for administration.
UnbeatableHire still had about 350 motorhomes, but the administrators - Antony Batty & Company - said that another 123 vehicles were "missing".
Some were shown as "stolen" in company records, but the administrators said they had never been reported stolen to the police.
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Others had been written off or destroyed in separate fires at two of the company's depots.
Some motorhomes were also found to have more than one chattel mortgage listed against them.
Other lenders have been shocked to discover that their loans had been used to buy second-hand vehicles when they had been told their money would go towards brand-new ones, which would be worth considerably more.
UnbeatableHire's managing director, Andrew Hughes, told the BBC the vehicles were sold on the understanding they were being passed on free of the chattel mortgages.
He said that whenever a motorhome was sold, a replacement vehicle was allocated to lenders as security for their loan.
"The loan agreement allowed us to categorically sell any vehicle we deemed necessary," he said.
"Unfortunately when it went into administration, it was a different story and it was a number of unexpected and external circumstances that basically destroyed it and when that happens, there is fallout in any business."
Hughes could not explain why some lenders had been allocated second-hand motorhomes instead of new ones.
Any stolen vehicles, he said, would have been reported to the police and if any motorhome had more than one chattel mortgage on it, then that mistake.
Hughes said replacement motorhomes had been ordered, but had not arrived when the company went into administration in 2019.
Administrators have since reported their concerns to the Insolvency Service.
The 350 motorhomes which the company still had when it entered administration have been handed over to lenders, meaning they have either got a motorhome or some or all of their money back.
