A statement from Colin Horton following the departure of Mick Bratley.

"Following on from the recent news concerning the resignation of Mick Bratley and the failed takeover of the club I felt it write to issue a statement bringing the supporters and media up to date.

It is with great regret that co promoter Mick Bratley has stepped down from his position within the Peterborough Panthers.  We would like to thank Mick for all the hard work he has done for the club since he came on board back in 2006 and we certainly would not be where we are today without his input.  We wish him all the best for the future.

The financial cost of running an Elite League speedway does not come cheaply and we do need to reduce our general running costs, we are not the only speedway club in this situation but we have been badly affected by crowds being down and having had several meetings rained off. 

One of our inherent problems has been arranging a fixture around the many other events that go on at the Showground; this has led to us having very few home meetings recently, with only 3 in the last 3 months.  Obviously this has played a major part in our finances as without home matches we have very little income.

All the riders in the team bar Hans are paid up to date, and I am taking steps to ensure he receives every penny that he is owed, as a result of our current finances I can confirm that we have offered Hans Andersen a new contract and this is being discussed at the moment.  We do not want or wish to see Hans leave the club, but if he does choose to leave he will be greatly missed and we wish him all the best for the future.  We have had to make this hard decision to ensure the survival of speedway at Peterborough in the future.

I have recently spoken to a third party with regards to taking over ownership of the club, it's fair to say we discussed the matter at length and we got very close to agreement, but his value of the club and mine were different and we were unable to agree a deal which was acceptable to both parties.

I can assure everyone I have no intention of walking away and letting the club go to the wall, and I am confident we can move on from here, with the support of the riders and its supporters Peterborough Speedway can get through this difficult time and get back on track."