FALLOUT from the funding crisis which drove York City FC to the brink of extinction was today being discussed at top-level Treasury talks.

City MP Hugh Bayley has been invited to meet Treasury Minister Dawn Primarolo to discuss how the Inland Revenue can bail out football clubs hit by a financial crisis.

The Treasury helped to save the Minstermen from going to the wall by agreeing to take a payment of 63p in the pound from the club's not-for-profit trusts.

The deal, struck after lobbying from Mr Bayley, saved the club £60,000 - which it would have been unable to pay.

The Treasury has given similar help to other struggling football clubs - most notably newly-promoted Premiership side Leicester City.

But there are no formal arrangements and the Treasury has agreed to discuss establishing a more "formal" approach.

Ms Primarolo, the Paymaster General, could also be asked to explain why the package offered to York was less-generous than the deal given to Leicester. The private consortium which bought the club was told to pay only 10p in the pound, allowing the club to hang on to its highest-valued players and win promotion.

Leigh MP Andy Burnham, who speaks out for supporters' trusts at Westminster

and is also attending the meeting, has questioned the wisdom of this decision.

Mr Burnham wants the Treasury to adopt a standard approach for clubs which owe tax.

Updated: 10:37 Thursday, July 17, 2003