IPSWICH Town bosses today banned The Evening Star from a press conference called to outline the club's precarious financial state.Sources had leaked details of the club's financial losses last year in advance of publication of the figures due later this week.

By Paul Geater

IPSWICH Town bosses today banned The Evening Star from a press conference called to outline the club's precarious financial state.

Sources had leaked details of the club's financial losses last year in advance of publication of the figures due later this week.

As soon as club chairman David Sheepshanks found that the Star had details, communications director Alesha Gooderham demanded that the figures were suppressed until Thursday.

The club had already called a press conference to explain the figures – and put their own spin on them – on the understanding that details would not be published until Thursday.

It was the Star's intention to respect that – but we were determined to publish the information we had obtained independently of the press conference.

However, Mrs Gooderham said that as it was our intention to publish these figures today, they were not prepared for the Star to be present at the press conference.

"The chairman was told about your leak and asked Alesha Gooderham to contact your editor about this," said Ipswich Town press manager Terry Baxter.

"Because you are going ahead and publishing this, I'm afraid we have to ask you to leave the press conference. It's nothing personal," he added.