CLARETS bosses have issued an 11th-hour plea for supporters to return their ‘Premier Pledge’ forms - and apologised for delays in dealing with those who have already applied.

More than 7,000 forms are currently being processed by staff at Turf Moor as part of chairman Barry Kilby’s pledge scheme to return season ticket money with Burnley FC’s ascendancy to the Premier League.

Letters and cheques will be sent out to around 5,000 fans, whose surnames begin with the initials A to P, next week.

The remaining 2,000 applications will continue to be processed, according to club officials, with an announcement expected shortly about when they will be distributed to qualifying fans.

A Burnley FC spokesman said: “We would like to thank our supporters for their continued patience.

“The manual processing of over 7,000 supporters applications, along with the options available, has taken longer than anticipated.

“However we can now confirm that all supporters who requested refunds will begin receiving cheques via post next week.”

The only exception to this is for those with Premium Credit agreements, which are in the process of being cancelled and refunds adminstered through that scheme.

The spokesman said: “There are still a number of supporters who have not yet sent back their requests for refunds.

“We respectfully ask that anyone who has not yet returned their form should do so as soon as possible.”

Two options were given by the club - either the return of their season ticket price or seeing the same sum invested in the club via a shares purchase.

The Clarets Trust promoted a third option which would give the supporters organisation an increased share in the club.

While the pledge is estimated to have cost the Clarets around £2million, the windfall generated by promotion is calculated at £60million.