A DEFUNCT car dealership is being investigated by Trading Standards following a string of complaints.

Yesterday, the Echo revealed Canvey-based Blue Car Company had refused to honour a warranty, ignored a court order and then ceased trading.

Now three more customers have stepped forward with similar complaints and Trading Standards is investigating the dealership, which was based in Charfleets Industrial Estate, Castle Point resident John Stevens, 37, paid the firm £6,995 for a 2007-plate Mazda 323 saloon in June.

After three weeks the engine started overheating and Mr Stevens was forced to shell out £725 to fix the head gasket.

The car was covered by a three-month warranty but when he returned to the showroom, the Blue Car Company was gone and a new firm had moved in.

He said: “They told me ‘it’s nothing to do with us, we’re a different company’.

“Two guys were exactly the people I’d dealt with before, I couldn’t believe it.

“There were about five people working there. It was intimidating so I just left.”

Two other customers, who did not want to be named, had similar problems.

Peter Jackson, owner of Canvey Carriage Company, which now trades from the same premises, said his firm had nothing to do with Blue Car.

He said: “We are not the same company, we have different ownership.

“We kept on three of the sales staff from the previous firm, but that is it.”

Yesterday, the Echo revealed a disabled man had taken Blue Car to court after it refused to fix his car under warranty.

The company was ordered to pay £2,821 in compensation and damages but failed to pay up. Customers can call Trading Standards on 0845 4040506.