Halifax Bank of Scotland has been urged to publish minutes of a meeting it held with Farepak eight months before the Christmas hamper firm’s collapse.

Jim Devine, MP for Livingston, made the plea in a Commons debate a year after the firm folded, leaving thousands of families without their Christmas savings.

“We now know that the Halifax Bank of Scotland and Farepak management met in February of last year because the company was in dire financial straits, but it kept taking money off agents until last October,” he said. He called for the minutes to be put into the public domain so those who lost their savings could see where their money went.

Speaking after the debate, Devine said: “It’s outrageous that following the meeting the company went on taking money from thousands of hard working families if they had an indication of the impending collapse. The hundreds of thousands of people affected by this scandal have a right to know what was discussed during that meeting.”

Devine also tabled an Early Day Motion asking the Government to publish its report on the Farepak collapse.