packager

She said the packager dropped her in 2011 and handed over her unpublished eighth instalment to an anonymous ghostwriter, who went on to publish two further Vampire Diaries books.

Smith had originally been hired to write the novel series by a book packager - who sold them to a publisher - under a deal where they, not she, owned the rights.

He told the BBC that certain debt packager companies were "prioritising profit" by receiving referral fees for passing clients on to insolvency practitioners who then charge fees.

It announced on 2 June that it was banning debt packager companies from receiving referral fees from October.

Existing debt packager firms will need to develop a new way of doing business by October this year or face regulatory action, the regulator said.