CHIPPENHAM Town are facing a financial crisis after director Derek Hooper decided to step down at the end of the season.

The club has spiralling debts of £30,000 and Hooper, who only joined the club in October, would have been expected to help meet the club's overdraft.

Hooper has said he is not cutting his ties and will continue to work on the commercial side.

Now the remaining Bluebirds directors Chris Blake, Richard Terrell and Doug Webb have been left to pay the debts themselves.

Hooper, who has put more than £20,00 into the club, denied he was jumping ship and said he had decided to lessen his football links because he needed to spend more time at his Chippenham carpet firm. He also said that it had never been his intention to be Lyus' successor as Chippenham chairman.

The Gazette understands Hooper became disillusioned over the club's reluctance to buy its Hardenhuish Park ground from Chippenham Sports Club.

But Hooper said: "To be honest I don't have the experience in football to be a chairman. To come into the club in October and be made chairman after three or four months, I wouldn't want the club to be unprofessional in that sense. Malcolm leaving was a difficult decision for him to make but he was not leaving the club in the lurch. We are still friends.

"It was only my intention to be a director for one season anyway."

Hooper said the club has financial difficulties but said: "I believe the club has a bright future. They have to get the budgets and gates right but they are not in hundreds of thousands of pounds of debt like some other clubs.

"If they have a couple of good cup runs or sell a player like Constable they are not going to be far off."

Hooper is not completely cutting his ties and will be working with the club's newly-appointed part-time sales executive Lauren McKell.

Hooper added: "I think the club is a business and should stand on own it's own two feet.

"It doesn't need a moneybags person to throw money at it because that is the wrong way to do it. It should be run as a business. Taking on the role at the club was much more difficult than I expected.

"Basically I just don't have enough time for retailing carpets and Saturday football."

Club secretary Chris Blake admitted the remaining directors would have to share more of a burden now.

They are desperately looking for more sponsorship or directors to come on board. The Gazette understands Blake, Terrell and Webb have all taken out personal loans to keep the club afloat in recent weeks.

Blake said: We have a plan and are talking to a lot of people and are hopeful of making some announcements in the next seven to 14 days.

"We've set in stone next year's budget. It is based on certain criteria which means getting in a certain level of sponsorship.

"Steve White has agreed on a lower budget based on certain predictions. We are not prepared to risk the future of the club."

The Gazette understands White's weekly budget has been trimmed by almost a third, which will not leave him much room for negotiation with key players Mark Hervin, Simon Charity, Mark Badman and Wayne Thorne when their contracts expire after Saturday's crunch game at Hinckley.

Despite admitting the cutbacks Blake said the club is not in a financial crisis. "There are other people who have put money into the club it hasn't just been Malcolm and Derek. The Terrell family and the Webb family have put a lot of money in as well.

"Clearly there is more pressure on us now Malcolm and Derek have left because we've got to go out and find people who want to put money into the football club."

White said he understood the situation and believes he can still work with the smaller budget.

White said he was in negotiations with a number of his players and hopes to announce their decisions in the next week. He said: "I have agreed a reduced budget with the directors for next season that I feel is fair.

"At this moment in time I'm talking to the players and am happy to say that the vast majority have indicated that they are happy to stay at the club."

The club has this week been negotiating with former chairman Lyus about a final £10,000 payment he had offered when he resigned.

"Some things require a third party's consultation. Malcolm wants to be relieved of all responsibilities to Chippenham Town and we want to check some things through with a third party before making an agreement."