ROSSENDALE United owners have been granted another 12 weeks to clear the defunct club’s tax bill.

The Stags’ unpaid £37,500 debts have led to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs seeking a winding-up order.

Owner Andrew Connolly has drawn up plans to build 50 homes on the club’s former home in Dark Lane.

A major fire on January 15 earlier this year gutted the stadium’s main stand and took 30 firefighters to bring under control.

Registrar Barber in the High Court yesterday gave Rossendale United FC Ltd a further 84 days to clear the amount, having already adjourned the payment for an identical length of time in March.

It is unlikely that the company will be given any more time to cough up the money if the debt remains unpaid by August 13.

If the company is eventually wound up, its affairs will be handed over to an official receiver, who would then settle the debts by selling any assets available and then closing the business.

The Newchurch-based club, which was founded in 1898, was expelled from the North West Counties League Premier Division in June 2011, and has not played since.

Connolly has been owner of the Valley club since paying £30,000 for it in the 1998/99 season.

No planning application has been submitted for the housing development so far, but cons-ultants Maze Planning Solutions say their draft is at an ‘advanced stage’ and should be put forward in the summer.

A supporters’ association had hoped to start a new club, Rossendale FC, for the 2012-2013 season, but abandoned the plans in April due to spiralling costs and limited interest from the council in helping to locate a new ground.