PARS chairman John Yorkston hit back this afternoon following the collapse of negotiations with The Pars Community and said he had suspicions about the motives of the group from the start.

He said TPC had been a "distraction" over recent weeks and that he was talking to other potential negotiators.

The club's solicitors were this afternoon served with a winding up order from the HMRC and now �134,000 has to be found by the end of the month for the Pars to survive.

However, Yorkston was in a positive mood, despite the events of the day and believes the fans will show their backing in upcoming home games against Dumbarton and Falkirk.

He said, "The way forward is getting the fans involved. If there's a share issue and the fans get 20 or 30 per cent then fine. Gavin's determined to get below the 50 per cent mark but he's not just going to walk away. Nobody would just walk away from it.

"We're talking to other parties. There's a gentleman, who spends a lot of time in Switzerland, who we've been speaking to. He contacted me over a week ago. I met him at Edinburgh airport at the beginning of the week. We had discussions and those discussions are on-going."

He said the potential investor was not looking to take over the club but to be a partner in running it.

"He doesn't want sole ownership but he wants to get involved."

It looks like Jim Leishman's role will be diminished over the coming vital days. Yorkston said the steering group headed by Leishman had just been set up to negotiate with TPC.

He accused TPC of acting unprofessionally in their actions. "I find it impossible to deal with the way they've been acting. The stuff that's been on the e-mails, the internet is totally unaccceptable."

MP Thomas Docherty has offered to act as an "honest broker" in talks between TPC and the main shareholder.

However, Mr Yorkston said he and Mr Masterton would find it hard even to be in the same room as them.

He added that Mr Masterton had gone on holiday to get away from the abuse he had been receiving.