YORK City Knights' hopes of signing Featherstone flyer Chris Spurr have been hit by a late attempt by Batley to prize him away.

It has been confirmed that Spurr was the man the Knights were close to signing, as revealed in the Evening Press on Saturday. But chief executive Steve Ferres said the Bulldogs had since made a late bid to take him to Mount Pleasant.

The 23-year-old centre cum loose-forward, who had also been interesting Hunslet and Dewsbury, had looked likely to sign for the Knights until Batley came in. He was due to speak to the Bulldogs today.

In better news for the Knights, Ferres, who previously ruled out the possibility of signing Lee Jackson, has now said there is a chance, albeit a slim one, that the former Great Britain hooker could make a big-name move to Huntington Stadium.

As regards Spurr, Ferres said: "Batley signed Craig Booth from Feather-stone and he recommended Chris Spurr to them.

"We've now got a battle on our hands to sign him. If he does not come then so be it. We will search elsewhere. I believe we've got more potential to offer him but it is his decision."

Spurr, the son of Castleford great Bob Spurr, who also played for Bradford Northern and Feather-stone, is a product of Rovers' youth set-up but is set to become the latest player to leave Post Office Road under club "restructuring".

The new speculation linking York with Jackson - who is yet to tie himself to a new club having been released by Hull - was triggered by the fact he went with Ferres and Knights player-coach Paul Broadbent to York Acorn ARLC's sportsman's dinner on Friday.

"Lee Jackson is a personal friend of Paul Broadbent, who he played with at Hull," said Ferres.

"He is looking for a Super League club at the moment and will pursue every avenue to get one, and if I can help him find a Super League club I will.

"But if he does not get a Super League club, he will have to look at his options and one of those options could be us. However, it is very likely he will get a Super League club."

Updated: 11:38 Tuesday, October 29, 2002