FIFTY thousand new shares are to be made available in Burnley Football Club.

The resolution was passed at last night's AGM after chairman Barry Kilby revealed that over-subscription was hampering the crucial search for new investors.

"We have used up the available 50,000 and if Roman Abramovich walked into Burnley tomorrow, there would be none left to buy," said Kilby, who added the new shares would be made available at £200 each.

However, Kilby agreed to a proposal from the floor that a study group be set up to look into allotting "second class shares" at a lower cost, which would enable less well-off supporters to buy an investment in the club.

Kilby also vowed to consider a proposal that each of the supporters who invested £1,000 as part of the '500 Miles' fund-raising scheme, aimed at staving off administration, be reimbursed with shares.

Shareholder Mr Harry Brooks pointed out that during the financial struggle, £90,000 in interest on a loan was paid back to the chairman, and issuing some of the new shares to those 500 donors would be an appropriate gesture.