IOR, the owner of Hartlepool United Football Club (HUFC) has been thwarted in an effort to buy the club's Victoria Road stadium after the local authority rejected its bid.

The venue has been home to the npower League One club for more than a century but is currently owned by Hartlepool Borough Council (HBC) and leased to IOR. A HUFC spokesperson said: "The initial reaction from IOR and employees at the club is one of extreme disappointment, especially given that the council obtained the ground from a previous owner of the club by default.

"This is the second rejection by the council in recent years and sends the wrong message to the owners and club staff." However, a HBC spokesperson told the BBC: "The derisory offer made by the club was less than a tenth of the estimated value of the council's interest in the football ground and represented a gross under-valuation."