The petition, which was filed on 4 February, was published on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, owner Ken Anderson said in a statement that heads of terms were agreed and discussions were ongoing with a consortium to buy the club.

Anderson said in January that he was "doing his utmost" to find a buyer amid fan protests.

Reports of a Turkish buyer and north west consortium backed by Russian investors have been described as "pure fiction" by Anderson.

"Unfortunately, a number of people like to portray that they know more than they actually do and speculate on what's happening and generally speaking, it bears no relation to the truth and reality of what is really happening," Anderson said.

"The facts are that there is a consortium with which heads of terms were agreed and discussions are ongoing.

"There has, over the last week or so, been further interest from several other consortiums who have all signed NDAs [non-disclosure agreements] and discussions are also ongoing with them.

"Everything else that has been said or written can be ignored as it is total fiction."

A winding-up petition is a legal notice put forward to court by a creditor. The creditor can issue the petition if they are owed over £750 and it has not been paid for more than 21 days.