Bradford City chairman Gordon Gibb was today meeting with officials from the club's biggest creditor in an effort to keep possession of Valley Parade.

Mr Gibb (pictured) was due to hold talks with representatives from mortgage lender Lombard over the £6.3 million the club still owes in payments on its Sunwin Stand development.

And today it emerged City could even agree to Lombard taking ownership of the ground and renting it back to the club if that meant securing its future.

City failed to pay the latest £350,000 instalment due to Lombard last week and have asked to hold talks with the firm in an effort to solve the crisis.

Mr Gibb hopes a compromise can be thrashed out, but if it is not, Lombard could - under the terms of the mortgage - take over possession of the whole of the Bradford & Bingley Stadium and all City's income.

If they chose to do that, the club would be forced to file for bankruptcy and Lombard would sell off the ground and other assets.

However, it is likely the low value of the stadium without the football club will put off Lombard from choosing that course. City chief executive Julian Rhodes and his father David are personal guarantors of the £6.3 million loan and would be liable to find the cash if City should fold.

Today Julian Rhodes said it was in both parties' interests that the loan was restructured, and City paid back the full amount over a longer period of time.

"I am always confident that we can come to an agreement, especially when it is in both parties' interests that an agreement is reached," he said.

"Lombard is the biggest creditor by a long, long way. We want to repay the debt to them, it is just that under the current terms we have to pay £1.4 million per year. It is unachievable. If you look at other football clubs they have debts spread over a 25-year period. Our mortgage with Lombard covers just five-and-a-half years."

And he said a deal which would see Lombard own the ground and rent it back to City could be considered.

"We would consider any deal if it meant the football club staying in business, but we would prefer to own the stadium ourselves and pay it back over a longer period. But up until now Lombard have taken a very hard line.

"If a deal is not done, we will carry on paying the money to them as long as we can but at the end of the day it would mean the end of the football club."