FURIOUS Exeter City football club boss Ivor Doble has demanded an apology from PNE after hundreds of his club's supporters, who had travelled to see the match, were locked out.

And he warned they 'could look at legal action very seriously' if a settlement was not reached by the end of this week.

After travelling hundreds of miles by coach, more than 400 Exeter City supporters were turned away from the game with PNE on Saturday, May 4.

When they arrived at the ground at about 2pm, the fans were just in time to see the entrance gates being closed.

But not before they saw the away stand was full of Preston supporters decked out in club colours.

Exeter City's social club manager Stuart Pryce said: "It is lucky we are a very friendly bunch and there wasn't any trouble - we were just standing outside the ground and by the finish things were getting pretty heated.

"We told Preston to expect between 400 and 500 fans - and that's how many we took." Mr Pryce explained the supporters were all out of pocket after the failed trip and he estimated that each fan had spent around £50 on travel and accommodation.

Club boss Ivor Doble is angry that despite his complaints to Preston's managing director and to the FA there has been no formal apology. He said: "This has put a huge downer on the end of the season."

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