A regional daily has been praised for its ‘relentless’ coverage of a major investments scandal that jeopardised life savings and put homes at risk.

The Yorkshire Post has received plaudits from campaigners for its reporting of the collapse of the Philips Trust Corporation as large building societies began paying compensation to victims.

The Post’s Business and Features editor Chris Burn, left, has led coverage of the scandal, which left hundreds of people out of pocket and in many cases facing financial ruin.

More than £40m is being returned voluntarily to around 700 people by the societies, including Leeds Building Society whose chief executive Richard Fearon has previously said of Chris’ work: “Your coverage on this has been a great comfort to the people involved who know you are giving it a thorough and fair hearing.”

The newspaper was also praised by the Philips Trust Action Group, made up of affected victims and family members.

It said: “Had it not been for the relentless coverage by The Yorkshire Post, and other media outlets, whose reporting played a crucial role in embarrassing the building societies into doing the right thing, these voluntary financial settlements may never have materialised.”

Said Chris: “Over the last two years, it has been a privilege to get to know many victims of the Philips Trust scandal, who all felt that by trusting in their building societies they had, through no fault of their own, faced losing their hard-earned life savings forever.

“My thanks go to the campaigners, who have bravely shared their personal stories with me.

“Not everyone has been compensated, and there are still outstanding questions to be answered about what happened, but given there was no legal or regulatory requirement for the building societies to pay out this money, I believe the existence of this £40m compensation scheme represents an extraordinary victory for people power and also shows the positive difference that quality journalism can make.”

James Mitchinson, editor of The Yorkshire Post added: “Relentless is certainly the right word for that which Chris, and those who have trusted him with their lived experiences, have achieved together. It genuinely is a remarkable contribution to a cause that has at times to those affected felt like a lost one.”