TAXES have been settled, but the firm which owns Swindon Town will be before the High Court again next month to discuss more debts it is claimed are outstanding.

Yesterday, at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Rolls Buildings, London, a petition by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) to have Swindon Town Football Company Limited (STFCL) wound-up was on the verge of being dismissed.

But proceedings were halted when a legal representative of Quantuma, the administrator of St John Law, the legal firm demanding fees for last year’s ownership victory, kept the petition alive.

On February 4, The London Gazette published a notice detailing HMRC’s petition to have Swindon Town’s holding firm wound up in the High Court.

HMRC claimed to be owed an undisclosed amount by the company, whose majority shareholder is Seebeck 87, the company owned by Lee Power.

The petition was presented by HMRC on January 5, but since that date negotiations have been ongoing and as predicted by both Mr Power and director Sangita Shah, the matter was dropped yesterday.

But as Fiona Dewar set out HMRC’s wishes, Emma Knight, representing Quantuma, asked Mr Registrar Baister if the petition could be substituted to her client, rather than dismissed. This keeps the prospect of a winding-up order alive, which Quantuma hopes will accelerate its own pursuit of outstanding fees from the club.

Ms Knight said: “This is based on debt incurred through invoices for solicitors’ fees. The administrator has been trying to contact the debtor since October last year and had very little response.

“Outside court I was told there was a dispute over the liability, but this was the first time I was made aware of this particular dispute.”

Niall McCulloch, representing STFCL, said his client was glad it had satisfied HMRC, but nothing short of surprised to see the administrator in court attempting to amend the petition.

He said his client was disputing the outstanding fees as it did not feel it was liable for them.

Registrar Baister agreed to re-serve and re-verify the petition with another date set for Companies Court on Monday, March 9.

He said: “This is just another football spat.”

In December, the Adver reported on the £68,000 Quantuma claimed it was owed by STFCL as the administrator of St John Law.

The club denied owing the law firm any outstanding fees, and said it was a personal matter between Mr Power and St John Law.

Mr Power declined the opportunity to answer questions after the hearing and Swindon Town later said it would not be commenting on the hearing.

Quantuma failed to return the Adver’s calls before it went to press yesterday.