WEYMOUTH joint vice-chairman Dave Higson has today threatened to quit the club.

The man, who through his company Park Engineering, has ploughed more than £200,000 into the Wessex Stadium coffers, says he's fed up with being 'slagged off' by a tiny minority of fans.

Mr Higson's warning comes following a number of recent postings on the Terras' website criticising the motives of both him and his fellow directors.

He told Echosport: "Anyone who knows me knows how open I am and supporters are always welcome to come and have a chat about any subject they want. There are a lot of fans who do just that and most of them talk a lot of sense.

"I, and the rest of the board of directors, have no problem handling criticism and we do listen to what is being said, but what I will not tolerate is being slagged off and questioned about our motives.

"We directors do our best for this football club and we get absolutely nothing out of it in terms of financial reward. In fact over the six years I've been involved with Weymouth, my Park Engineering partner Mick Archer and I have put more than £200,000 into the club through being main sponsors.

"We are doing our best for the Terras and since the appointment of Terry Bennett as chairman, we've now got one of the most open boards ever. But there are still one or two supporters hell-bent on giving us a hard time and I don't know whether they are serious or are just trying to wind us up.

"Either way, I really can't be bothered with the hassle any more and I will seriously consider pulling out if I continue to get slagged off."

Some fans are known to be furious following a string of allegations levelled at them for excessive swearing this season and claim club officials have introduced big brother-style monitoring of their behaviour on the terraces.

"What they are referring to is the fact that our club secretary Terry Northover stood amongst them during the home game with Havant last week," explained Mr Higson.

"But we as a board didn't instruct Terry to do that. It was something he did off his own back and to say we are spying on our own fans is ridiculous.

"We've had a directive from the FA telling us we're responsible for our fans in terms of things like foul language, sexist and racial remarks and so obviously we've got to be sensible.

"Personally I don't think there's much you can do about swearing at football matches because that's the way it's always been. But there are limits and we have to keep to them."

Mr Higson's comments come as the Terras prepare for a Fans' Forum, which will be held in the Wessex Lounge next Thursday at 8.30pm.

"This is another step in opening the club up to the supporters," explained Mr Higson, "and there will be a chance to address the board of directors and management team.

"Personally I will answer any question as honestly as I can and if people want to know what our overdraft limit is and how close we are to it, then I'll tell them.

"It's their club and they have a right to know the answers to these sort of questions and I think the chairman should be congratulated for giving the fans this opportunity."

Joining the club's directors in the firing line on Thursday will be Terras team boss Andy Mason, while director of football Fred Davies is also hoping to attend.

Mason said: "It's good that supporters are being given this opportunity to meet us face to face and I'm looking forward to what I hope will be a very constructive evening. We've got a terrific following here at Weymouth and I'm sure the forum will be very well attended.

"Fans will always have their own ideas and opinions about team selection and playing formations and Fred and I will answer any questions put to us as honestly as we can."