Morecambe MP urges Shrimps owner to 'get on' with sale

Morecambe were relegated from League Two in 2024-25 having finished bottom of the table

Morecambe's MP Lizzi Collinge says the owner of the town's football club "needs to get on" with selling up after its board of directors said the Shrimps' existence was under threat.

In a statement on Friday, the Morecambe board said owner Jason Whittingham's Bond Group appeared to be "considering reneging" on a deal to sell the club to the Panjab Warriors consortium.

It also said the Bond Group was "attempting to engage with alternative buyers", in addition to failing to provide the funds required to meet June's payroll.

The deal to sell the club to Panjab Warriors was approved by the English Football League earlier in June.

Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire, Morecambe and Lunesdale MP Collinge said she hopes the upcoming Football Governance Bill - which is passing through Parliament after being reintroduced by the government - will avoid similar situations in future.

"They [Bond Group] need to get on with it," the Labour MP said.

"We really need to get this legislation in place. We need a proper fit and proper owners' test so this can't happen again.

"They're messing the community and fans around and the fact that people haven't been paid is absolutely outrageous."

Bond Group Investments, who took over in 2018, have been asked to comment by BBC Radio Lancashire.

Whittingham previously told BBC Radio Lancashire that he "could not wait to get out" of the then-League Two club in an interview in January, with a takeover by Panjab Warriors still to take place.

Since then the club have been relegated from the English Football League, meaning they will play in the National League next season for the first time since 2007.

In a separate statement, Panjab Warriors said they had already paid £3.8m to Bond Group alongside a separate payment of £630,000 to clear outstanding loans against the club.

The group claimed they had also loaned a further £1.7m to the club over the past 14 months to "ensure its ongoing survival".

Tarnia Elsworth, chair of the Shrimps Trust supporters' group, said the drawn-out takeover process is having an effect on the wider community.

"The fact of the matter is there's a chap sat in Essex who's got the power over our community," she told BBC Radio Lancashire.

"People need him to be able to pay their mortgages, for school trips, to feed their children.

"This comes down to a governance issue that this man should not be allowed to do this to our community."