Torquay United are confident that new owners will be in place by the end of this week.

The Gulls, who finished 13th in the Conference last season, have been up for sale since January.

However, acting chairman Bill Phillips has revealed that a consortium led by Dean Edwards is now "in the box seat" to take over.

"I am out of the country from Friday and, therefore, the hope is for the deal to be complete or a long way down the line of being finalised by then, so an incoming consortium can get on with the business of running the football club," he said in a club statement.

"Decisions need to be made on finalising the structure of the staff, finalising player budgets, finalising everything that is required before the new season can start.

"People have accused me of being non-communicative but there are so many questions I am unable to answer at this present time. The consortium led by Dean Edwards is definitely in the box-seat but the final decisions have to be made very soon."

Former owner Thea Bristow sold her 80% stake to the present board of directors for £1 last month.