HOT on the heels of the winding up of the Ostrich Farming Corporation - the company which earlier this year was also marketing the sale of breeder ostrich chicks to Irish investors - is an attempt by the British Securities and Investment Board to recover £200,000 lost by British investors from World Ostrich Farms, a company that collapsed last month. The company liquidators believe that creditors may only recover 50p in the pound.

According to the Sunday Times, this SIB case against World Ostrich Farms, "is being seen as a test for whether the SIB is ultimately responsible for the sale of ostriches. If it succeeds, investors who have lost money in other ostrich farms may be able to sue for redress under the Financial Services Act. Tens of millions of pounds are believed to have, been invested in ostriches over the past 18 months".

The question at the heart of this case is whether ostriches can be considered an investment. The SIB are claiming that the sale of ostriches amounted to "the carrying on of an unauthorised investment business", something the World Ostrich Farm principals deny, despite their original offers to investors of 50 per cent returns on the purchase of birds.

Family Money is interested to hear from anyone who invested in the Ostrich Farming Corporation for its ostriches, which are being farmed in Belgium. Any information received will be treated in strictest confidence.