BANKRUPT businessman Ross Turtill hid £37,000 under the bed to keep it away from creditors.The former C&R Windows chief made the astonishing admission as a court heard how another £150,000-plus is still being tracked by receivers investigating the bankruptcy.

BANKRUPT businessman Ross Turtill hid £37,000 under the bed to keep it away from creditors.

The former C&R Windows chief made the astonishing admission as a court heard how another £150,000-plus is still being tracked by receivers investigating the bankruptcy.

The county court convened to trace money which remains unaccounted for.

Mr Turtill became known to thousands through his infectious radio jingle adverts before his company's spectacular collapse.

Assistant official receiver David Gibson told the court Mr Turtill had been conducting a "money merry-go-round" in a bid to avoid a rush on his bank account.

But Mr Turtill, of Hockney Gardens, Ipswich, who was wearing a dark blue suit during the hearing, said £15,000 he drew out of the bank in August, 2001 was merely living expenses for a month or six weeks.

Mr Gibson described the sum as "an extraordinarily high amount to live off."

Mr Turtill also claimed the £37,000, which was taken out in three instalments on August 24, was "just spent."

Saying he put it under the bed for safekeeping, Mr Turtill added: "We've still got the bed, it's one of the few things we have still got."

Earlier the County Court, in Arcade Street, Ipswich, heard how Mr Turtill and his wife Kathleen, who was also in court, re-mortgaged their Foxhall Road home for nearly £230,000.

The balance of more than £160,000 was paid into the Turtills' current account, but receivers are still not sure what happened to it.

Mr Gibson quizzed Mr Turtill about a bewildering series of transactions in August, 2001 which saw £100,000 paid into his company account.

Further transactions saw nearly £70,000 drawn out of different accounts including large amounts paid to family and close friends.

But Mr Turtill emphatically denied ever holding an overseas account, either in his own name or that of his company.

Mr Gibson said evidence given by a former employee indicated he had been paid from a foreign account.

But the 51-year-old failed businessman, who now works for Dream Windows in Ipswich, said the claims had been made just to hurt him.

The case was adjourned for two months for further investigations into the Turtills' financial affairs.

Timeline.

1989 – C&R Windows founded, reaching 15,000 customers at its height.

August 2001 – holding company Protectacoat Ltd forced to cease trading.

March 2002 – C&R Windows officially goes into receivership.

September 2002 – Ross and Kathleen Turtill declared bankrupt.

December 2002 – the couple narrowly avoid a warrant for their arrest after a court heard they ignored two court summonses.