Angry brides-to-be who removed dresses from a warehouse used by The Wedding Dress Ltd after the Cork boutique shut unexpectedly last week have been asked to hand the gowns in at their local Garda stations.
Eugene Carey, a solicitor acting on behalf of The Wedding Dress Ltd, said yesterday that more than 25 dresses had been taken from the warehouse on Cork's Centre Park Road on Thursday by brides who panicked following the closure of the upmarket bridal store.
A number of brides have since returned the dresses. However, Mr Carey yesterday appealed to the remaining customers who brought home dresses which belonged to other brides to hand them in at their local Garda stations or at his office.
"There was a bit of mayhem on Thursday and over 25 dresses were sequestered by people who should not have them. We got some of them back and we are appealing to people who have wedding dresses which are clearly not their wedding dresses: would they for God's sake return them."
Mr Carey said that those who had taken dresses from the warehouse would not face prosecution.
He said that the owner of the store, Judith Linehan, and her 10 staff members were working around the clock to deliver dresses to customers. Every effort would be made to ensure that all brides received their dresses.
Bank of Ireland has agreed to provide a refund on credit card transactions to customers affected by the closure. Negotiations were under way with other banks yesterday to see if they would follow suit.
More than 180 brides were affected by the closure and some 80 of them have had their gowns delivered by courier over the past few days. Those who have paid for their dresses in full are most likely to be compensated.