THE businessman once hailed as the saviour of a North-East football club admitted last night that he is bankrupt.

Quantity surveyor Michael Peden took over the third division club in the summer of 1997.

At the time, he promised to take Darlington Football Club into the Premiership.

As a sign of his intent he pressed ahead with plans to revamp the club's ageing Feethams ground by building a £2.5m east stand.

But yesterday the former chairman told a hearing that his ambitions had come to nothing.

Mr Peden was giving evidence at a disciplinary tribunal into solicitor David Hayes, who was accused of overcharging the club.

Mr Hayes, a partner in Warner Cranston, of Coventry, denied the charges and last night the hearing cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Cross examining Mr Peden, Jim Sturman QC said the former chairman had been taken to court several times for debt problems.

Mr Peden told the hearing he was now a bankrupt.

He had sold his home for £165,000 in a bid to escape his debts but his company, Chaddington Property and Development, had still gone into liquidation.

Asked how many times he had been taken to county court, he estimated the number of county court judgements against him personally to be about 20.

Mr Peden said that he was bankrupt to the sum of about £60,000. Chaddington Property and Development went down owing about £120,000.

He also revealed he had been unable to meet the total cost of building the Quakers' east stand.

He said: "We went round various banks looking for finance for the stand. We got turned down by the lot of them.

"We then had a commitment from an offshore bank for £3.25m."

Mr Sturman asked: "Did you pay for the new football stand?"

Mr Peden replied that the majority had been paid for.

The building of the stand became a controversial issue among Darlington fans.

The £3m structure strained the club's finances to breaking point, despite a £750,000 Football Trust grant. At one stage, Mr Peden had to take out a £1.25m bridging loan to cover debts. This did not prove to be sufficient and ended up as another financial millstone.

Mr Peden eventually sold the club to millionaire George Reynolds, who settled the Quakers' debts and brought financial stability to the club. This season the team moved into a new 25,000-seater stadium that is among the best in the country.

Mr Peden moved on to Morton Football Club, in Scotland, but the deal fell through

Last year a children's party company he ran, Billy Bubbles, ceased trading, leaving scores of angry parents who had paid deposits.