TNS Football Club have refuted claims of owing Oswestry Town Council £80,000.

This week the JD Welsh Premier champions were accused of failing to pay back a legacy grant to the local authority by a privately hired investigator.

The Oswestry club was granted an £80,000 grant in 2012 to install additional seating at their Park Hall ground and ensure the club capable of hosting UEFA competition ties.

The club are accused of failing to repay the grant at an annual rate of £16,000 over five years.

However club director of operations Ian Williams insisted the club had met all of the “grant outputs and deliverables outlined in the grant funding agreement.”

Williams said: “The club is now giving employment opportunities to over 85 people either full, part time or contracted to perform services to benefit the town of Oswestry.

“The club has hosted a number of UEFA Champions League games since the grant was awarded with over 40,000 people attending these and other domestic games, bringing much needed economic benefit to the town of Oswestry.

“Without such support, these games would have been lost to other towns such as Wrexham or Newtown with the estimated loss of spend in the town being in excess of £4 million.

“In addition, the club has hosted games in the Irn-Bru Cup, further raising the profile of the town and attracting in excess of 2,000 people to the games. All of these events boost the local economy with local hotels, shops and public houses thriving with the additional revenue.

“We have hosted recreational activity on a day to day basis for the past 10 years and will continue to do so in the future.”