A football club says it will be business as usual on the field despite having their clubhouse stripped by bailiffs due to an unpaid VAT bill -- they even took away the club stretcher for injured players.

Thame United secretary Fred Saulsbury admitted the clearout at Windmill Stadium had affected morale, but stressed the financial problems were already being solved.

Bailiffs took action after the club failed to pay a VAT bill believed to run into thousands of pounds.

Mr Saulsbury said: "They were like locusts. They've stripped us out of almost everything, including our stretcher. What productive value that can have I don't know.

"I think the mood at the club was quite down on Wednesday, but we are very positive about going for- ward."

He added: "We don't imagine that it will affect our footballing position at all."

Thame, who also run a thriving social club at their ground, are now seeking advice on how they can best move forward. The club plays in the Southern League Division One West.

Mr Saulsbury said: "The next month is going to be tough, but in a way it couldn't have happened at a better time because there's no football going on and we are not overwhelmed with other activities at the moment."

He said the debt were been accrued through some slack administration, but work was well under way to address this.

"It gave us a kick up the backside to be honest," he said.

The 121-year-old club's stadium in Windmill Road is worth around £10m and they want to sell up to fund a move to Lord Williams's School.

South Oxfordshire District Council refused an application to replace the current stadium with housing in June 2003, but the club remain committed to moving.

Mr Saulsbury said: "If the ground move were to take place tomorrow, we would have absolutely no problems. The ground is worth millions of pounds."

He added: "We are trading at a profit on a consistent basis. The problem is the size of the previous VAT bill. Once we can resolve that we'll be fine.

"The indications are we'll be playing next year and hopefully we'll be trading at a profit.

"It might affect the budget we can give the manager, but it is too early to say."

Committee members will discuss the club's finances again on Monday night and a members' meeting will be held on July 13.