STAFF at Bolton Wanderers have been told that plans to liquidate the club “have been put on hold”.

An internal message, seen by The Bolton News, was sent out this morning to allay fears that administrators could be about to close the business.

More than 150 jobs were put at risk on Monday when administrators said they were "currently not in a position to carry on trading" following the collapse of Football Ventures' bid to buy the club and hotel.

Progress on the deal was made yesterday but it came too late in the date to prevent the EFL enforcing a 14-day notice to withdraw the club’s membership.

The Notice of Withdrawal will not affect Saturday’s League One game at Gillingham or the Leasing.com Trophy meeting with Bradford City at the UniBol on September 3.

Discussions continued throughout the night between legal representatives to finalise a sale with staff offered an optimistic message by administrator Paul Appleton an hour ago.

“Owing to the ongoing negotiations with Football Ventures for the sale of the club, I want to stress that any plans that may have been made for the immediate closure of the club have been put on hold.”