THOUSANDS of pounds from the pension funds of redundant workers at a collapsed Merseyside drugs charity appear to be missing.

Up to 250 bewildered employees are anxiously waiting for the official closure of The Lighthouse Project at 5pm today.

The organisation is understood to be heavily in debt – possibly by as much as £2m – and this has led to its downfall.

Chief executive Diane Bird remains suspended amid allegations of large-scale “financial mismanagement” of the charity, which offers support to vulnerable people including drug addicts, those with alcohol problems, and children at risk.

Offices in Liverpool, Knowsley, St Helens and Southport are shutting their doors as the company stands on the verge of administration.

One substance misuse worker, based at the Kirkby office, said his pensions agency informed him nothing had been paid into his account for the last two years.

He added: “I pay £200 a month, and the Lighthouse Project contribute towards it as well.

“It’s not just the £5,000 which seems to have gone missing, but the break in service I’ve now got.

“I thought I could possibly finish working at 55, but now if I have to start from scratch I might have to keep working for years longer.”

Case workers said managers were telling them to provide emergency prescriptions for six weeks in advance.

But, with no official announcement on who might be taking over the service, and confusion over how future medication might be issued, fears about the social implications of the Lighthouse Project collapse were growing.