THE chairman of Bury FC has been asked to provide assurances over the club's future by the town's MP.

James Frith has written to Shakers' owner, Steve Dale, this morning to raise concerns about the club's financial state ahead of its appearance at the High Court tomorrow.

The League Two club is set to face a winding-up petition from former assistant manager Chris Brass over what a spokesman described last week as "an historical debt".

Meanwhile, it is understood that staff and players have still not been paid their wages for March.

In his letter, Mr Frith posed a number of questions to Mr Dale, who bought the club back in December.

It reads: "I have been contacted by Bury FC fans who have asked that I write for an update from you by way of comforting all of us who learned the news of the latest financial dire straits to become publicly known at Bury FC.

"I would be most grateful therefore if you could answer the following questions written in union with those concerned fans who made contact with me.

"1. You have a pedigree of turning around failing businesses; has the situation at Bury taken you by surprise and can you expand on any detail facing you now that was not provided to you and your senior team at takeover point?

"2. Can you confirm if staff are getting up to date information on the payment of their wages? When can they expect to be paid?

"3. What are your plans in the short term to keep the club operating as a business?

"4. If Bury FC is wound up because the debts are too catastrophic are you considering launching a new Phoenix club?

"5. Does the club have the funds available to deal with tomorrow's winding-up order?

"6. Do you regret that the details of the severity of the club's debt were not widely known at point of takeover given your commitment to transparency and your welcome intention to make Bury FC a community club, something welcomed across the town?

"Finally, if it would help express the depth of feeling and loyalty to the club there is in Bury, I am offering to chair a meeting with any creditors and stakeholders as an honest broker to find a way forward for the club, with an interest in seeing the Shakers soar and Bury thrive in this league and the next and the next."

After taking over the club in December, Mr Dale said there was "a lot to do" to sort out the financial problems and criticised the way in which it had been run in the past.

Last week, the club issued a statement confirming it was experiencing "internal financial restrictions" and that the matter had been discussed with players and staff.

They vowed to quickly rectify the issues to help the team in their fight for promotion to League One, which has taken a hit following three consecutive defeats.

READ MORE: Former Bury FC chairman's empire goes under - owing £27million

Earlier today, it was also revealed that large parts of the empire belonging to the club's former chairman, Stewart Day, had crumbled into dust - with more than £27 million owed to creditors.

Mr Day, and his Mederco development arm, had major student property schemes in progress up and down the country.

The Blackburn-based property magnate, who sold the Shakers back in December, had also secured a lucrative deal to sell off more than 250 parking spaces at the club's Gigg Lane ground.

As part of the scheme, the firm had pledged to provide a nine per cent return for investors, with the transaction currently £190,000 in arrears.

Further investigations are also being made by administrators regarding any inter-company loans and debts between the various Mederco outfits and Bury.