HOPES are rising that Hereford United could soon be free of their long-standing Company Voluntary Arrangement.

Club chairman Graham Turner advised shareholders at the annual meeting at the Three Counties Hotel last Wednesday that a final settlement offer had been made to creditors and the board were hopeful that this would meet with a positive response.

"We met with the CVA administrators Smith and Williamson and made an offer to settle which has been put to the main creditor," said Turner. "Smith and Williamson are fairly optimistic that the main creditor will accept."

When the CVA was entered in 1998, more than £140,000 was owed to the Inland Revenue, more than £120,000 to HM Customs and Excise, and around £47,000 to other creditors.

When asked by shareholder Tony Bailey whether the successful release from the CVA would mean that the club would then be able again to pay transfer fees for players, Turner replied, tongue in cheek: "We can dream, yes!"

Around 20 shareholders attending the club's 56th annual meeting heard that the club had sustained a loss of £14,840 for the period ending May 31, 2003.

Presenting the accounts, director Hugh Brooks explained that this was down from a loss of just under £22,000 in the previous period and around £107,000 for the one before that.

"We hope to show better figures at the end of this period on May 31, 2004," he said.

Brooks explained that the club's expenses had dropped due to a lower figure for wages and salaries as few players had been on contract for the summer period leading up to the 2002-3 season.

But, set against this, prize-money was also lower as the club had been eliminated from the FA Cup at the first-round stage by Wigan Athletic.

He said that the problems of the club were due to the 'poor history' being carried forward and, with regard to the £1m debt, added: "Little will change that short of a move and property development."

Turner explained that despite meetings with Herefordshire Council leader Roger Phillips and representatives of developers the Richardson brothers, as well as an informal meeting with council deputy leader George Hyde, a former United director, there was little to report regarding the future of the Edgar Street ground.

"We know no more than we did 12 months ago," he said.

Under development proposals for the Edgar Street grid, the football ground would move around 50 yards down the Merton Meadow car park and shift at an angle of 35 degrees.