THE former principal of law firm Thorpe and Thorpe Solicitors has reassured clients that all outstanding business will be dealt with.

Nicolas W Morrow Brown said he feared the Review report on the closure of the firm's offices in Ross and Cinderford might cause unnecessary concern on the part of clients, many elderly.

"The facts of this matter are that I was forced, by the recession and other factors, to cease trading at the end of December 2010; since then, strenuous efforts have been made by myself, my family and former employees of the firm, in conjunction with the Solicitors' Regulatory

Authority, to effect an orderly closure of the firm," he writes.

"This has necessarily involved informing clients of the closure and inviting them to retrieve their documents by appointment."

Notices had been posted at the firm's former Cinderford office clearly stating the position with regard to the return of documents, giving mobile and landline telephone numbers.

"Clients were invited to telephone for an appointment to enable their documents to be located and returned.

"Both my wife and I have spent many hours answering the telephone and searching for documents, often where it has been many years, sometimes decades, since the firm last acted for the client in question.

"Many documents have been returned to clients already whose minds have been set at rest.

"Owing to the volume of enquiries, however, it has, regrettably, not always been possible to address them with the despatch which they merit; and this has, understandably, led to some clients expressing their dissatisfaction.

"For this reason I have recently made arrangements for another local firm to write to all the clients of whom we are aware and to offer to store or return those documents.

"The majority of those letters have already been sent out, and it should therefore be possible for all the clients' documents in the custody of Thorpe and Thorpe to be returned to the clients as quickly as possible.

"Former clients should wait to receive their letter before making further telephone inquiries."