Former Worcester Warriors chief executive Jim O'Toole says he has submitted a bid to secure the long-term future of the club.

Irishman O'Toole is one of a number of parties to have declared their interest in buying the Warriors.

The Premiership club have been served a winding-up petition by HMRC over unpaid tax, believed to be more than £6m.

They also received a £14m loan from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) during the Covid pandemic.

Sports consultant O'Toole, who was at Worcester from 2015 to 2017, issued a statement on Sunday saying he had approached the DCMS with a proposal "regarding the funding and future of Worcester Warriors rugby club".

The statement added: "This includes a commitment to multi-year operational funding and to meeting the repayment of the long-term government loan.

"The success of this proposal is dependent on the relevant entities being placed immediately into administration, which we have encouraged the DCMS to implement."

He added his "compelling, innovative and robust plan" would draw on "the available assets alongside significant input from our American partners to ensure the long-term sustainability of professional rugby".

Worcester are due to start the Premiership season away to London Irish on Saturday, 10 September and have a pre-season friendly against Glasgow in Inverness on Friday, 2 September.

Last week, co-owners Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring released a statement saying they were "working through a number of options with our advisers", adding "these include solutions for keeping rugby at Sixways".

They said they wanted to avoid the club falling into administration.

Richmond were the last Premiership club to enter administration, in 1999. If Warriors were to do so, they would incur an automatic 35-point penalty - although this season there is no relegation from the Premiership to the Championship.