A Bradford on Avon businessman has withdrawn his sponsorship of the town’s football club following the resignations of its manager and assistant manager.

Steve Plummer, of travel agents Holidays & Cruises for You, decided to pull the plug on his sponsorship of Bradford Town FC.

The move follows the shock resignations of manager Wayne Thorne and his assistant manager Pete Maddison.

In a statement on its website on March 28, the club said: "With effect from today, Wayne Thorne and Pete Maddison have stepped down from their roles as manager and assistant manager respectively.

“The club would like to thank them and their team for all their hard work and achievements over the last 18 months.

“They have taken the club to a new level which we can only hope carries on in future seasons. We wish them all the very best for the future.”

Mr Thorne, 39, said: “Pete and I have both resigned because we are unable to continue the job we were doing.

“We have done well at the club and have walked away with heads held high but the club wants to go in a different direction to us.

“We both feel that we cannot work in that environment and have therefore decided to leave.”

Mr Plummer said he has decided to end his sponsorship of the club’s manager following Mr Thorne’s decision to resign.

He added: “We have decided not to continue our sponsorship with Bradford Town FC due to the current climate.

“We held Wayne in high regard for his achievements since becoming manager and his professional attitude on and off the bench.”

BTFC’s chairman, Jon Phillips, denied the resignations were related to rumours that former chairman Mark Hodkinson is planning to return to the club.

In January, BTFC confirmed that Mr Hodkinson had stepped down as chairman and would be leaving the club with immediate effect.

He said: “Their decision to leave is not connected to Mr Hodkinson as far as I am aware.”

Mr Thorne and Mr Maddison, who both live in Trowbridge, joined the club in October 2018 and have left it in a good position.

The club’s season came to an end on March 26 when the Football Association and the Toolstation Western League declared it null and void because of the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Bradford Town was third in the Toolstation Western League Premier Division with four games in hand over league leaders Tavistock.

The club had been sitting on 58 points having won 19, drawn one and lost only two games.

Mr Thorne said: “If we had won those games, we would have been ten points clear and heading for promotion to the Southern League.”

The club was also in the semi-finals of the Les Phillips League Cup, named after the league chairman who died in 1988.

In the last game they played, they beat Roman Glass St George 1-2 away in the quarter finals of the League Cup.

Bradford Town FC had been hoping to gain promotion to the BetVictor Southern League Division One South, the same one that Melksham Town FC play in.

This would have been the highest position the club has been in but with the season ending early their dreams have been dashed.

The Toolstation Western League and the Football Association have decided that because of the coronavirus pandemic no teams will be promoted or relegated this year.