They include former employees who claim they are owed wages withheld from January this year, The Herald has learned. A major claim is from HM Revenue & Customs, which forced the compulsory wind-up of Windsave Ltd in the Court of Session, and which is believed to be owed £130,000.

Michael Currie, at Paisley-based law firm Alexr McAllister & McKechnie, confirmed that he was acting for certain ex-employees in relation to their employment rights. He added he was “surprised” at the company’s statement that Windsave Holdings would continue in the commercial and business market after the wind-up of the domestic roof micro-turbine business.

David Gordon, the high-profile entrepreneur who founded the company in Glasgow, was not available for comment yesterday, but a London-based spokesman for Windsave said: “Windsave Ltd fell into a situation earlier this year where effectively Windsave Holdings was funding its losses. The business was struggling and staff were put on a two-and-a-half-day week... directors had taken a significant personal loss to continue to part-fund staff wages.”

He said the unpaid wages were related to the reduced working week. Currie, however, said no employees he had spoken to were aware they had been made part-time.

The spokesman said it was Windsave Holdings which was involved in what Gordon described earlier this year as a “major breakthrough” in talks with local authorities in England over powering up to 250,000 lights on rural roads and motorways. Gordon said the project could create 50 jobs at the company’s Livingston manufacturing base.

He added: “Windsave Holdings was set up in 2006.As part of the desire to list the company, it received several million pounds worth of backing, including from David Gordon. Since then cash has been moving from Windsave Holdings to Windsave Ltd to keep the residential sales business going, while the company’s management waited for the government to reform the planning laws.”

The British Wind Energy Association says there are 17 other manufacturers of micro-turbines for the residential market still in business.