BURY are understood to have been awarded costs after a third winding-up petition brought against the club by HMRC this year was dismissed at the High Court in London.

The Shakers were issued with the winding up petition on June 1, following an apparent unpaid tax bill.

But Bury insist the bill was paid on time and HMRC are understood to have been forced to pay the costs of the case.

The amount of tax claimed to have been unpaid is unknown, but Bury's chief executive officer, Glenn Thomas, told the Bury Times the petition should not have been posted in the first place.

He said: “The petition should not have been advertised as the amount was paid in full prior to the petition being posted. Hence, the club have had the case dismissed and have won costs accordingly against HMRC.”

HMRC sought winding-up petitions against Bury FC in January and April after the club made late payments.

On both occasions the cases were dismissed after the tax was paid in full – after the deadline but before the court date – but Bury were forced to pay court costs.

A spokesman for HMRC would not discuss Bury's case, but said: "We don't comment on identifiable taxpayers. We treat all taxpayers equally irrespective of their size or structure.

"Our aim is to efficiently collect the debts due and to prevent things deteriorating further. We only initiate winding-up action where we believe this is the best way to protect both the interests of other taxpayers and creditors.

"Anyone who anticipates payment problems should call us as early as possible as we have an outstanding track record for supporting those with genuine problems."

Meanwhile, Thomas revealed Bury have held talks with outside investors in a bid to boost their finances after posting a £2.9million loss in their most recent set of accounts.

But he refuted suggestions the club was up for sale.

“I have heard there have been some rumours that the club is for sale, but there is nothing to them at all – the club is not for sale," said Thomas.

“However, what I can say is that we have, in the recent past, been approached by two separate consortia who were interested in investing in a League One club, but both enquiries came to nothing.

“One of the consortia was based in England and another was based abroad. They were interested by the fact that we train at Carrington and have a good set-up having been promoted to League One and consolidated there.

"Discussions went on but resulted in nothing.”

While Thomas and his fellow directors work hard to stem the club's losses, the departures of a number of key members of staff over the past few months have been confirmed.

They include commercial director Alan Townley, who was only appointed to the post in January, and first-team physiotherapist Nick Meace.

Shareholders will be updated on the current situation at a meeting on Wednesday, July 20, at the Pymgate Lounge, where there will be a fans' forum the following day.