TOWN hall bosses are looking at a rescue plan to throw beleaguered Bury FC a financial lifeline.

They are considering joining a community trust which might allow them to plough funds into the cash-strapped club.

Council leader Derek Boden says he is seriously considering an idea from Bury North MP David Chaytor to set up such a trust with local businesses and organisations.

Coun Boden said in last week's Bury Times that the council, after taking legal advice, could not help Bury FC out of its predicament.

He said the council had a duty to spend its money in a way that would benefit the whole community, not one part of it.

However, Mr Chaytor has asked him to rethink his decision. He said that Lincoln City FC had recently been helped to raise £400,000 through the creation of a community trust comprising, among others, its supporters' club, local businesses and the Co-operative Bank. He says this might be a model which Bury Council could follow, although of course it could not take unnecessary risks with the council tax it raised.

"If they could help put together a package of financial assistance like the one which kept Lincoln City afloat, that would be a fantastic outcome for the Shakers and the community as a whole," he said.

Coun Boden has told the Bury Times he is interested in the idea.

"I have asked council officers to see whether, in principle, that kind of thing would make any difference to the advice we have had," he said.

"However, if it's a development with wider community objectives, with a football club at its centre, and secure enough for a major bank to put some money in, it might be a different kettle of fish altogether."

The Labour leader said it would have to be different from a simple profit-making business like any other, with a more community-oriented aim and working for the public good.

"It's certainly worth investigating and pursuing," he said.