The newspaper reported the firm had made preliminary inquiries about an offer, but was not as far through the process as the other potential bidder brought to light by Mr Spowart.

BBC: Lloyds TSB to detail HBOS offer

Huddersfield managing director Richard Thewlis said that preliminary inquiries into the allegations showed that "the conduct of the Giants players has been grossly overstated and inaccurately reported and talk of drunken exploits could not be further from the truth".

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Sir Ian explained said the post was independent of the rest of Ipsa but added he was dealing with "about 100 inquiries a month" and about 40 "preliminary investigations".

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