A youth movement run by a Witney-based charity has folded, leaving its founder facing large debts.

The European Youth Parliament operated from West End, Witney, and organised debates for thousands of young people from around the world every year.

Bettina Carr-Allinson, who lives in the town, started the organisation in 1987. She was European Woman of the Year in 1997 and given the freedom of Athens for her work.

Since losing its funding from the European Commission, the limited company which ran the youth parliament has folded leaving unpaid debts.

The company, European Youth Parliament International Ltd, was wound up in May this year after several years of funding problems. The parliament is now run by a foundation in Berlin.

The Commission confirmed it had cut the grant, but was unable to say why. Mrs Carr-Allinson said the commission had asked for more than 150 forms as well as invoices and receipts the company was unable to provide.

"Our accountants said we've done everything we need to do in compliance with UK company law, and what they asked for was beyond the call of duty," she said.

To cover running costs while waiting for the grants, Mrs Carr-Allinson and a trustee of the foundation which ran the company, personally guaranteed a £25,000 overdraft.

Mrs Carr-Allinson, who is Dutch but has lived in Witney for seven years and in Oxfordshire since 1991, is unemployed and struggling to find work.

The failed company was organised by the Fontainebleau Youth Foundation, a charity started and still run by Mrs Carr-Allinson. The Fontainebleau Youth Foundation is currently under investigation by the Charity Commission.