BURY North MP David Chaytor has welcomed the Government's decision to block BSkyB's Manchester United takeover bid.

He said yesterday: "If this takeover had gone ahead, it would have started a worrying trend, with more and more wealth concentrated in the hands of just a few large clubs.

"Smaller clubs like Bury would have found it harder and harder to break into the game at the highest levels. In some cases their very survival would have been threatened.

"I am therefore delighted that Trade Secretary Stephen Byers has blocked the bid on the grounds that it is not in the public interest. If Rupert Murdoch had been allowed to go ahead, he would have had an unfair advantage over other clubs when bidding for TV rights.

"In my view, Murdoch's media empire stretches quite far enough. If he'd been allowed to take over Manchester United as well, it would have been a step too far."

And he added: "This is a victory for British football as a whole - and for football clubs big and small, up and down the country."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.