BURY FC staff have spoken out over the "abysmal" treatment they say have faced over the past five months.

Non-playing staff at the club claim to have not been paid on time since January and are still awaiting payment of their May wages from the club's owner Steve Dale.

Last week, it was revealed that several members of staff at the financially troubled club had received letters of “potential redundancy”.

When quizzed on the redundancies, the club's owner Steve Dale accused staff of "trying to extort money from the club".

The strongly-worded statement from staff, which was shared on the Bury FC Supporters Message Board this afternoon, claimed that communication was "non-existent" at the club and that staff were "immensely concerned" that time was running out to prepare for the upcoming League One campaign.

The club appeared in the High Court again yesterday and were given another reprieve after the hearing was adjourned for the third time in as many months.

The Shakers are due to reappear in court in about six weeks, which is likely to fall shortly before the club is supposed to kick off its League One campaign at home to MK Dons on August 3.

The statement in full read: "As a group of staff, we feel that the time is now right for us to share our views on the ongoing situation.

"The office staff are still working remotely, after initially being asked to work away from the club's premises for three days in early May.

"This request has continuously been extended week on week, and this is a situation we still find ourselves in.

"We are immensely concerned that with the new season only a matter of weeks away, and a number of pre-season friendlies will no doubt be arranged before then, that we are running out of time to properly prepare.

"The treatment of us as a group over the last five months has been nothing short of abysmal.

"We haven't been paid on time since our January wage, and at the time of writing this we are still awaiting our May wages in full, with no idea as to when we are likely to receive them and with little hope of receiving our June wages, which are due next Friday.

"Communication in general is non-existent and the silence from the relevant people is deafening.

"Whilst we totally respect that everyone is entitled to their opinion, we don't agree with comments made concerning the staffing levels.

"We all work multiple roles and work many more hours than we are contracted to do, in order to get everything completed on time and to the high standards that we pride ourselves on.

"It was therefore disappointing, although not surprising, that some of have been put through the wringer of a highly unprofessional and unfair 'possible redundancy' process.

"We continued to work extremely hard, under very difficult circumstances, for the final months of the 2018/19 season. We did so for Ryan Lowe, his management team, his players and our fantastic supporters, all of whom deserved to see us achieve promotion to League One.

"Given what we have been subjected to, both financially and emotionally, we're very proud of ourselves and each other as we played our small part in such a great season.

"We would also like to offer our immense gratitude to all those who have supported us during this difficult period.

"The large amount of positive comments, both on public forums and in person have been an immense morale boost to each and every single one of us.

"The donations of food vouchers, cash and the array of items received has also been a massive help, and we are incredibly grateful.

"It should go without saying that these are circumstances that no one with a love for Bury Football Club wanted to find themselves in.

"As staff, we are huge fans of the club ourselves. We are our own team behind the scenes, we're good at what we do and we work exceptionally hard; most of which, quite rightly, goes unnoticed.

"We're also a very determined group, we will continue to fight for what is right and we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with everyone who has the best interests of the club at heart.

"We are all keen to return to our working routine, which will allow us to properly prepare for the upcoming season.

"We are more than happy to do this once we have all been paid our outstanding monies in full.

"We look forward to the coming season in League One, standing together with the fans, the players, the new management team and each other."

The statement comes less than a month after the club's players issued a statement of their own calling on Steve Dale to sell the club.

Since then, manager Ryan Lowe and fans favourite Nicky Adams have both left the club to join Plymouth Argyle and Northampton Town, respectively.

Steve Dale has been approached for comment.