JIM Rushe, Northwich Victoria’s former owner, is to go on trial in Liverpool next week after denying a drugs offence.

The 54-year-old, of Runcorn Road in Runcorn, has been charged with a single count of conspiring to supply class A drugs between February 1 and May 20 of last year.

He pleaded not guilty in January, and a trial at Liverpool Crown Court – scheduled for seven days – starts on Monday.

Rushe resigned as a director at the club, which currently plays in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League’s First Division North, in the summer of 2014 shortly after being made subject of a bankruptcy order.

His son, Martin Rushe, is now solitary shareholder.

Co-defendants Andrew Fetherstone, 47, from Barnard Road in Manchester, and 46-year-old Mark Fishwick, from Greencroft in Penwortham, have both denied the same charge.