A CASH row at Kidderminster Harriers Football Club has finally come to an end after a settlement agreed with former chairman David Reynolds - but not without more controversy.

His successor Lionel Newton has paid him a six-figure sum, believed to be around £150,000, to end the argument over a £212,563 loan.

But Mr Newton accused him of threatening Harriers' future by taking out an order against West Bromwich Albion to claim the money owed through the sell-on clause for £5million striker Lee Hughes. Lionel Newton joining the Harriers board with then chairman Dave Reynolds in 1996.

Mr Reynolds had negotiated the lucrative deal that transferred the player to Albion and the clause was activated by a summer move to Coventry City.

Mr Newton said: "The club would not have been able to survive this loss and would have been forced to close its gates.

"The board were saddened that our ex-chairman had chosen a course of action that would have jeopardised the club's existence.

"But I am delighted to have resolved this matter once and for all. We can now, as a club, move forward."

Mr Reynolds, whose shares have been bought by directors for a five-figure sum, denied the accusation and said he would have only acted on the final instalments from the Hughes transfer due next August and in 2003.

He said: "I wanted to take what was owed to me. It would not affect the day-to-day running of the club.

"Any threats that the club would be put into insolvency were totally unnecessary.

"I am amazed at Mr Newton's response when again I have demonstrated my generosity to the club.

"My loan outstanding, plus my shares, amounted to approximately £450,000 but I have settled for £150,000."

However, Mr Newton countered: "The club was totally insolvent when I arrived in 1996.

"Mr Reynolds had already been responsible for a £200,000 brewery loan, a £100,000 personal loan and a £100,000 overdraft. Then I gave him £137,000 to help him reduce his loan account.

"The club are still paying the money off. We are losing £20,000 a month and must find £200,000 to pay for a new stand."

Mr Reynolds added: "Mr Newton came on board at the club with his eyes wide open. No-one forced him.

"It is very rich of him to point the finger at me in my administration for showing losses when over the last three years the club has faced about £800,000 worth of debt.

"In my 18 years as chairman, most years I produced a balance sheet showing profits or break-even situations.

"Any small losses I did incur have been eradicated by the sale of Lee Hughes that I was involved with which appears to have saved the club from further financial losses."