Solicitors' offices shut over 'regulatory' issues
BBCA firm of solicitors has closed its doors citing "regulatory matters".
A sign on the door of Butterworths' Kendal branch in Stricklandgate said it could "no longer trade".
The firm, which has been approached for comment, also has branches in Penrith, Carlisle and Whitehaven.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) said the firm had "not closed in the manner we would expect" and it would be contacting its partners to remind them of their "professional obligations". PM Law Group, which owns Butterworths, has also been approached for comment.
The sign on the Kendal branch said: "Due to regulatory matters, the PM Group of Businesses carried out within this building can no longer trade."
The SRA said there was no further information it could provide.
Client and first-time home buyer Marie Latimer, from Carlisle, was hoping to complete in the next week, but said she had been unable to contact the firm.
"Now I don't know where I'm at - not a clue," she said.
"It's shocking when you get told that your solicitor has shut down and nobody knows anything, and you don't know where your paperwork is or what's happening with it."
The 59-year-old viewed the property she was hoping to buy in September and said that the process with Butterworths had been "a mess".
"It's not just me, there's a lot of other people affected, and I feel for them - they're in the same boat as me, not knowing how to feel."
Client Suzanne Burgess, 60, from Carlisle, was in the process of selling her property.
She said: "I'm absolutely fed up and I'm really gutted for people who are in a long chain.
"People's houses are potentially going to fall through as a result of this.
"We're in a position to exchange and complete once we've got new solicitors, but for other people, they could lose their dream houses."
