It could prove to be the club's last chance of avoiding legal action by Highland Council over its unpaid rent.

It owes £67,634 in rent arrears, and while discussions between club officials and the council have been ongoing, it is yet to produce a business plan on how it intends to repay the debt to the Inverness Common Good Fund, which owns the club's ground Grant Street Park.

The club has suggested repaying the money over a 20 year period, but council officers have said this is unacceptable.

This week, club chairman David Dowling said it wanted to avoid any council legal action and, although money was available to make a repayment immediately, he was concerned about the council's latest August deadline.

He said that an extra week to 10 days to make the final payment would be welcomed.

Mr Dowling said £10,000 for the payoff came from Ness Bridge Club — a card club which wants to buy shares to secure the tenure of the social club.

The other £7500 would be met by using some of the £10,000 from the recent sale of top scorer Robbie Duncanson to Deveronvale and the rest from fundraising — including a charity golf day — being held during August and September.

Mr Dowling said he was confident he would not have to sell another player, but denied Duncanson had been sold to raise funds.

Members of the Inverness City Committee will be asked on Monday to consider a deal which would commit the club to repaying the lump sum by the end of August, with regular monthly payments of £400.

In return, the council will suspend any legal proceedings for the recovery of the debt and will give the club until March 2009 to put forward a business plan which would see the money repaid within five years.

In the meantime, the club will be allowed to continue playing matches on its home ground for an agreed fee, which is not yet known.

The local authority's Inverness city manager David Haas confirmed that if councillors agree the proposals, the deal will then be put to the club.

If it chooses to reject the agreement or come up with a suitable solution of its own, the council will then reconsider taking legal action.

Mr Haas said a payment of £17,500 would reduce the amount of money owed to the common good fund and give the club more time to put forward a properly structured payment plan.

"We are always open to negotiation and discussion with the club if they were able to come up with a plan to reduce the debt to zero, but so far they have not produced that and that is our concern," he said.

Mr Haas added that the council was working hard to find a solution to get the debt repaid and for the club's long-term survival.

"We are looking at this as a constructive opportunity for the club to come forward," he said, but warned that any failure to meet the terms of the deal could result in legal action.

l.paterson@inverness-courier.co.uk

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