Jon and Melanie Sweeney, who lost wedding gifts when an internet gift company went into administration. 21/10/04.NEWLYWEDS Melanie and Jon Sweeney have been left devastated after the collapse of an internet gift company robbed them of half their wedding presents.

The couple, who married at St Mary's Church, Odstock, in August, had placed their wedding list with the Gift Registry in June, after being persuaded by a series of advertisements in glossy magazines.

About 40 of their friends and relatives took advantage of the list to place orders for items carefully selected by Melanie and Jon to help them equip their new home in Salisbury.

But when the delivery arrived after the wedding, half of the presents were missing.

Mrs Sweeney, who is headteacher at Odstock Primary School, said: "A man pulled up in a van and said 'You weren't expecting a lot, were you?'

"When we opened the box, we found half the presents, about £700-worth, weren't there. I felt gutted, to be honest."

The Gift Registry let couples select gifts from a wide range of stores, including John Lewis, Debenhams and Argos.

At the beginning of the month, a report on the BBC Watchdog programme about couples experiencing similar problems rang alarm bells and Mrs Sweeney called again.

She was told that the vouchers would be with her in two days - but, on October 8, the Gift Registry went into administration, leaving an estimated 350 couples without their gifts and scores of wedding guests out of pocket.