You are protected with a visa debit card if the purchase is over £100. The visa guarantee also applies to debits cards too or at least you were last year. I doubt its changed.

It doesnt surprise me that this company has gone down the pan. When i went to buy a camera they had a massive problem supplying a 'brand new' camera that hadnt had the box opened for some reason or another. Obviously thats not the reason why the company is having problems but certainly stopped me from shopping there again.

It's all part of the restructure already announced.

'Under the restructuring [announced] in the autumn, the trading assets - i.e. the shops, stock etc - were transferred to new ownership,' explained a Jessops spokesman.

'That left Jessops plc, and its shareholders, with no assets left. The meeting on the 21st is, in effect, the formal process to then de-list those shares.'

He added: 'It has no effect whatsoever on the high street shops which continue to operate as before and will continue to do so.'