JOHN Batchelor today confirmed he was the mystery third party who shelled out an undisclosed sum to guarantee York City's existence for another seven days.

Amid speculation he had donated £10,000 to keep the club going while takeover negotiations continue, the club's owner refused to give an exact figure.

However, Batchelor insisted the cash had come from his own pocket and denied his gesture was a publicity stunt designed to restore his credibility with the City faithful.

He told the Evening Press: "I have put money into the club because I want to give everyone involved as much chance as possible.

"I just want to keep the club going so the situation can be resolved and it became apparent last week we needed more time.

"I am working hard to keep it going and I will be working hard all this week to secure even more funding if it is required."

When announcing on Friday an unnamed individual had stumped up the cash to keep City going for another week, the administrator David Willis said no details about the mystery benefactor would be released.

However, it emerged Batchelor was the mystery third party just before Saturday afternoon's televised Division Three clash between City and Hartlepool.

Batchelor explained: "I did not ask that my identity was not revealed. But I didn't want the details to emerge before Saturday because I wanted everyone to focus minds on the deadline (of February 15, when a deal had to be done or extra funding found).

"I certainly didn't want to appear mysterious and I certainly didn't want people to think there was yet another party interested in making a bid."

If the speculation as to the size of Batchelor's donation is correct, many supporters will be wondering how £10,000 is enough to give City a stay of execution for seven days.

It is widely accepted the City are losing between £20,000 and £25,000 a week.

That was emphasised by the fact the Supporters' Trust recent donation of £92,000 to keep the club going was swallowed-up in just four weeks, at an average of £23,000 per week.

Batchelor declined to be drawn into a debate about the sums involved and said such issues were for the administrator to address.

Updated: 11:34 Monday, February 17, 2003