Nuns on the run

Fifty-five nuns - all called Maria - are on the run after racking up debts of £400,000.

The women had secretly run a knitwear company on the side for ten years. Their convent supplied 25 shops and they blew money traveling to fashion shows across Europe, reports the Sun.

The nuns of St Kyrikos and Ioulite in Northern Greece hit money problems after spending huge sums on new machinery.

Their expensive knitting machines were put on a lorry and the sisters disappeared a few days later. Greek Orthodox Church officials believe they may be hiding at a monastery in Volos, Central Greece.

The nuns' lawyer Dionysios Pelekis said they had asked church superiors to settle the debt by selling 16 convent-owned properties. But the request was refused.