ST MIRREN football club could soon be part-owned by Renfrewshire Council.

A 52% share holding in the club is currently up for sale at an estimated £1.5million.

And the SNP opposition on Renfrewshire Council has put forward a motion asking the local authority to pitch in for a share.

The matter will be debated at a meeting of the full council on Thursday.

Renfrewshire Council is now run by Labour, who took the reigns from the SNP at the last election.

It is highly unlikely that the new administration will back the SNP call to spend council cash on the club.

While under the Nationalists, the council had to make about £75m of spending cuts across services to deal with a huge hole in its finances.

But Councillor Brian Lawson said the idea of buying part of the club was viable.

He said: "I have no wish for a council committee to pick the team on a Saturday, but the council should at least investigate how it can play a bigger part in the club.

"It would be a real shame if it was simply taken over by rich foreign owners who were only interested in the value of the ground and the players.

"The council is currently investing around £50m in new sports facilities and the possible addition of the St Mirren stadium and training ground to our facilities is something we should at least look at."

Councillor Kenny MacLaren, also SNP added: "This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to increase the council's and the community's involvement in the club.

"St Mirren is Paisley and Paisley is St Mirren. Unlike many other football clubs St Mirren is in good financial health with no real debt.

"We have been following with interest the attempts, over the past two years, to launch a community interest company (CIC), and we will wait to see what happens with that bid.

"However we feel that there may be a place for the council to step in if the CIC bid fails. In an ideal world perhaps no one individual or company should have majority control of a club."

St Mirren did not respond to the Evening Times' request for comment.

However, a statement issued by St Mirren on Friday said productive talks have been held with a prospective buyer for the club shares.

The bid has come from the fan-backed '10000hours CIC.'

Because of the ongoing controversy surrounding Rangers and the SPL, however, the statement adds: "It was agreed by both parties that it was prudent to wait for clarity surrounding the commercial revenues of the SPL before committing to any potential deal."

ewan.fergus@ eveningtimes.co.uk