THE Chester City owner Stephen Vaughan last night rubbished reports that he was poised to buy fellow Coca-Cola League Two club Darlington, who are currently in financial administration.

Newspaper articles in the North East over the past few days have reported that Vaughan was set to purchase the Quakers from administrators Brackenbury Clark & Co. in partnership with local builder and former Darlington owner, George Houghton.

To add fuel to the rumours rife on Teesside, the administrators yesterday issued a statement saying that they had extended the deadline for bids for the troubled club from last Monday to May 5, which is three days after the final fixtures of the current League’s regular season.

“I can categorically say that the reports and rumours are way off the mark,” said Vaughan. “I was approached by George Houghton about various issues and we had a conversation but that was basically it.

“My focus is still with Chester City and our objective of staying in the Football League.”