ONE of the most vocal critics of the firm that oversaw Darlington Football Club in administration is to ask his MP to take his complaints to the highest level.

Many creditors were left furious by the deal which saved the Quakers because it meant they walked away with less than a penny for every pound they were owed.

The Sterling Consortium gained control of the club at the end of May, following five turbulent months in administration.

But John Shannon, director of Walsall joinery firm Beacon Woodcraft, which was owed £19,000, immediately called for an investigation into the links between Sterling and administrators Wilson Field.

The Sheffield-based insolvency practitioners have written to Mr Shannon, rejecting his claims that the administrators did not secure the best possible deal for creditors.

Officials from the Department of Trade and Industry, the Insolvency Practitioners Association and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants are all looking into the administrators' conduct.

The Football Association is also taking a close interest in developments.

None have yet reported back, but Mr Shannon has pledged to fight on for answers.

He said: "The Football Assocation actually seem to be taking it seriously. They have written a couple of times. I'm certainly not going to let this one go."

Mr Shannon had previously questioned the links between Sterling and Wilson Field director, David Elliot.

He said his brother also planned to raise the matter with Walsall MP, Bruce George, at his next surgery, a step the FA had urged him to take.

In response, the company's David Field stressed that Mr Elliot had no direct involvement.

He was, however, a director of HW Sterling plc, a firm at which Sterling's Stewart Davies, co-owner of the Quakers' stadium, was a director.

Sterling secured control of the club after striking a deal with former chairman George Reynolds, ensuring he would vote in favour of a deal to save Darlington from liquidation.