Liverpool Football Club (LFC) owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have failed to block the proposed sale of the Premier League club to New England Sports Ventures (NESV).

The High Court ruled that Hicks and Gillett had no power to seek the removal of either managing director Christian Purslow or commercial director Ian Ayre from the board in a bid to halt the process. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is one of LFC's main creditors, has been successful in its bid to secure a court order against the US-based businessmen from "reconstituting" the board.

Purslow said: "RBS were granted a mandatory injunction, which effectively means that the removal of Ian Ayre and myself was not valid and the board is exactly what it was before the owners sought to do that." LFC chair Martin Broughton said the sale process with NESV is now set to continue, despite a reported increased bid from the Singapore-based businessman Peter Lim.

In a statement, however, a NESV spokesperson said: "NESV has a binding agreement in place with the board of Liverpool FC and we are looking forward to concluding the deal."