TERRAS' chairman Terry Bennett has called for an end to the personal abuse he and his fellow directors have taken from disappointed fans over the club's financial plight.

"It's got to stop, I'm just not prepared to put up with it," he said today.

The fish and chip shop owner and his colleagues on the board of the hard-up club have come under fire since the real extent of their money crisis was revealed a few months ago.

The crisis came about because the Terras had budgeted for promised income which did not materialise. Mr Bennett declined to give details of the anticipated windfall, believed to be in connection with possible development at the Wessex Stadium.

But as a result the Terras had to loan out some of their leading players to stem huge weekly losses and their Dr Martens Premier Division results suffered.

Mistakes

"As a board we have made a few mistakes along the way which we have admitted to," said Mr Bennett today. "But we are guys who are chucking in a lot of our own money to keep the club going and we don't deserve the abuse we have been getting. Lots of awful things have been said about me personally on the club's website and I'm sick of it.

"But they're not going to get rid of me. I'm not walking away from this club and neither are any of my fellow directors."

Matters came to a head when someone knocked on his front door at 3am yesterday and then ran away leaving a cryptic message in the form of a tin can, a flower pot and an ironing board.

"It took us a while to work it out, but we think the message was tin-pot-board," said Mr Bennett. "I can take the criticism, but when it comes to affecting my personal life and perhaps my family, the time has come to say 'enough is enough'."