THE Clarets are being held to ransom by cash-strapped media firm NTL over £200,000 in internet fees that are owed to the club.

Coming hot on the heels of the collapse of ITV Digital - which left League clubs £178.5million out of pocket - NTL has told the Football League they cannot afford to pay £35million that is owed to its clubs.

League clubs, including Burnley, have been asked to waive the money owed in internet rights fees in return for a greater share of future profits from their websites.

The fear is that if clubs don't agree to waive the fee, NTL will go bust just as ITV Digital did.

The Football League and Premium TV - which is part of NTL - jointly own FLPTV, which runs the websites of all Nationwide clubs.

With NTL suffering financial problems, Premium TV have offered clubs 80 per cent of any future profits - instead of 50 per cent - if they agree to waive the £35million.

This could cost the Clarets up to £200,000 - money they can ill-afford to lose in the wake of the collapse of ITV Digital.

They expected to earn around £3million this coming season from the ITV Digital deal. The Football League is attempting to win the money owed in the High Court later this month and the Clarets will receive around £750,000 from the new Sky TV deal.

But news of another £200,000 lost couldn't have come at a worse time for the club.

Chairman Barry Kilby said: "It was roughly around £150,000 to £200,000 we were owed over this next season but that looks very much like it is in doubt now.

"It's another big chunk of money we were expecting that it doesn't look like we will get."

The League are now in the process of consulting clubs about whether to demand the money, which is to be paid over the next three years, or bank on winning future profits through the deal which is scheduled to last until 2020.

Kilby denied that it was another example of the football gravy train coming to a standstill.

"I think it shows that there isn't as much money in the internet as people thought rather than money in football," he said.

League chief executive David Burns said in a statement: "Both parties still hold a shared aim of delivering a stable and prosperous long-term future for their internet joint venture."