A CONSORTIUM bidding to take over Dover Athletic were today due to put their proposals to the club's major shareholders, Alan and John Husk.

Local businessman Jim Parmenter, who is leading the bid, said: "We will be putting our plan to the Husk brothers and then it's up to them."

With the deadline for raising the £48,000 needed to keep the club alive due to expire on Friday, news that the Husks had agreed to the deal would be just the fillip Whites fans needed as they frantically raise cash for the Fighting Fund.

Mr Parmenter said: "If you take into account the £13,000 that the Supporters Trust could contribute if necessary, then I think we are somewhere near to the £48,000 figure. It's been a brilliant response by the club and the town as a whole, and it just goes to show what the potential is here.

"You only had to look at the number of Dover fans who were at Folkestone on Monday to appreciate the tremendous fan base that this club has, and that Dover Athletic should be playing in a higher level."

But Mr Parmenter remained guarded about the likely outcome of the takeover bid, no doubt mindful of recent history. A former Dover Athletic director, Mr Parmenter resigned from the board in 1999 after his ambitious plans for the club were blocked by the other directors.

And he has also emphasised that the consortium needs to find another £75,000 on top of the headline-figure of £48,000 in order to stabilise the club's precarious financial position until the end of the season.

"There are a lot of other financial skeletons coming out of the closet," he said, "but there is no point coming into this if we are not prepared to deal with them."

Parmenter has the support of acting club chairman John Farringdon who said: "I am very hopeful that Jim will succeed with his rescue bid because it is the best hope of moving this club forward.

"He should be congratulated for what he is trying to do. I am certainly backing his takeover - and so is the club's Supporters Trust."