A single mother who lost hundreds of thousands of pounds of her savings after the collapse of a payment services firm has been told by police that they will stop the search for her missing cash.

Pauline Creasey, originally from Elms Vale, is owed £462,113 by the Portugal-based company Premier FX.

Much of the money was from the sale of her home in the Algarve, which she hoped would bankroll a move to the United States.

However, she has since moved back to Dover and is struggling to make ends meet.

"It's getting pretty dicey," she said. "I'm speaking to a few people about getting a loan.

"I don't know how much longer my finances will last."

She is one of 250 customers across the UK who have been left out of pocket by Premier FX closing last summer.

The company went in administration in August - months after the death of its sole director and shareholder, Peter Rexstrew.

Administrators have received claims of around £10.6 million from customers, but report that the firm, which was authorised and regulated by the FCA, only left £1.1 million in assets.

Surrey Police had been charged with investigating Ms Creasey's case several months ago.

But she says she was informed by officers towards the end of March they would be closing it due to budgetary constraints.

"I had to wait months for the police to tell me they weren't going to investigate," she added.

"It's shocking that someone who has lost so much money can't get it looked into.

"No-one wants to investigate financial crime in Britain - police say they are grappling with violent crime instead.

"It took Surrey Police five months to tell me this and none of the suspects have been interviewed - it isn't doing the right thing by victims of fraud at all. It beggars belief."

Ms Creasey says Surrey had tried to pass the investigation onto the City of London Police, but it too said it lacked the resources.

Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke has been supporting Ms Creasey who discussed the issue at a Treasury Select Committee hearing.

She has contacted Action Fraud to try to convince it to hand her case to the Serious Fraud Office, who she believes is the "only body with the skills to follow this up".

"I'm hopeful there will eventually be convictions," she continued.

"But all of us who have lost money also want to get our savings back."

Surrey Police was contacted but has been unable to provide a comment.

Read more: All the latest news from Dover.