Telford Tigers to go into voluntary liquidation

Ice hockey league leaders Telford Tigers are to go into voluntary liquidation with debts of about £500,000.

Insolvency practitioner Robson Scott Associates said it understands the club has a strong fan base and will look at options to "preserve the team".

The move is likely to be confirmed at a creditors meeting on 30 November, a spokesman said.

Telford-born businessman Wayne Scholes sold his stake in the club last year.

He stepped down as chief executive in April, information at Companies House stated.

More updates on this story and others in Shropshire

The majority of the debt is "due to the investors in respect of financial support provided prior to the appointment of the current board of directors", Robson Scott Associates said.

In a statement, the firm said: "Telford Ice Sports Ltd, the company behind the Telford Tigers ice hockey team, has instructed Robson Scott Associates a firm of business recovery specialists and insolvency practitioners to assist in placing the company into creditors voluntary liquidation."

However, third parties have expressed an interest in taking the team forward, the spokesman added.

The club are currently top of the English Premier Ice Hockey League and it is expected their upcoming games at the weekend will go ahead, although the owners will make a decision later this week.