INDIAN businessman Saurin Shah has stepped up his interest in buying Blackburn Rovers with a faxed offer believed to have been made.

Shah, little known outside his home of Mumbai, is understood to have sent a faxed offer in the region of £25million to Rothschilds, the company charged with selling the club.

Football agent Chris Nathaniel is believed to be fronting the negotiations for the interested party, while Shah's uncle is the vice-chairman of cricket's Indian Premier League.

A Thai group is also believed to be interested in the purchase of the club, along with several others, but it is understood the Indian group would be the first to submit an offer.

Rovers owners, the Walker Trust, has been looking to sell the club for a while now but would only consider a sale to a group considered to be right for Blackburn Rovers.

* For the latest on Rovers' potential takeover, see tomorrow's Lancashire Telegraph.