AN IPSWICH-born pop star who had a string of top 40 hits during the nineties has filed for bankruptcy at the Ipswich County Court, it has been revealed.

AN IPSWICH-born pop star who had a string of top 40 hits during the nineties has filed for bankruptcy at the Ipswich County Court, it has been revealed.

Lorna Saunders, a former pupil of Copleston High School and Northgate Sixth Form in Ipswich, formed one half of duo Clock with Marcus Thomas, who also went to school in the town.

Together they scored three top 10 hits in 1995, frequently performed on Top of the Pops, had two top 30 albums, and had tracks featured on at least 12 million compilation albums sold world-wide.

On November 5 this year, Lorna declared herself bankrupt and her petition was reported in the London Gazette on November 9.

The exact amount of her debt is unknown, although bankruptcy proceedings can only be brought if at least £750 is owed and her assets are now being dealt with by the Official Receiver at St Clare House, Princes Street, Ipswich.

Lorna, of Brunswick Road, Ipswich, was unavailable to comment.

Marcus, a former pupil of St Joseph's College, first formed Clock in 1993 and released one track that did not make the top 40.

When the original vocalist left a year later, Marcus drafted in Lorna, who was studying to become a lawyer at the time, after he saw her perform at his London dance school.

Under the names ODC MC and Tinka, Marcus and Lorna released nine tracks together and enjoyed their biggest hit in July 1995 with Whoomph! (there it is), which reached number four in the charts.

The duo supported PJ & Duncan on tour, performed at various Smash Hits roadshows and also toured various countries on their own, including a show when they shared the bill with the world's highest paid belly dancer in a performance for the Sultan of Dubai.

They stayed close to their Ipswich roots during the height of their success and Lorna frequently returned home to spend time with her family and often collected her nieces and nephews from school when back in the town.

Lorna even returned to her old school in 1997 when she and Marcus played to pupils to highlight the Say No and Phone Campaign (SNAP), which aimed to increase the number of calls to Crimestoppers from children who had been offered drugs.

With Clock unable to repeat their success of the mid-nineties, the duo split in 1998 when Marcus left to pursue a solo career and Lorna carried on with a new partner, a dancer from London, going on to release three more tracks.

Clock's first release under the new make up, That's the way (I like it), just missed out on the top 10 but Lorna was unable to follow up with similar hits and the duo's last track was Blame it on the boogie, which reached number 16 in November 1998.