AN ATTEMPT to wind up the Ostrich Farming Corporation, which has attracted thousands of British investors, was adjourned yesterday.

The Department of Trade and Industry issued the petition in March against OFC which is reported to have 2,000 birds on farms in Belgium.

The company is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office.

The Mansfield based firm is said to have taken millions of pounds by claiming it can provide annual returns of 51.6 per cent.

Many investors, understood to have paid between £6,000 and £14,000 for ostrich hens, were at the High Court to hear Registrar James adjourn the case to a judge in the Chancery Division.

The action should be heard before the beginning of August.

Earlier, the animal welfare group, Compassion in World Farming, called for a ban on the industry.