FORMER Rangers owner Craig Whyte has until the end of the month to pay his mortgage arrears before a bank repossesses his castle home.
The businessman is thought to be many months behind on his instalments on Castle Grant, near Grantown-on-Spey.
Two weeks ago the Bank of Scotland took him and his estranged wife Kim to the civil court in Inverness over the £720,000 loan they took out in 2008 to buy the landmark property.
At that hearing he was granted a two-week continuation for a settlement to be reached, but when the case was called again yesterday lawyer Elise Thomson, acting for the Whytes, sought a further eight-week continuation for adjustments to be made to the figure the bank are seeking.
It is believed the Whytes could be as much as 10 months in arrears with their monthly £7000 repayments.
A lawyer for Bank of Scotland told the court yesterday her clients were unhappy about the length of continuation sought.
Mary Nimmo said: "We would only agree to a four-week continuation in order to keep the pressure on. They don't want things to drag on."
Sheriff Margaret Neilson, who was on the bench for yesterday's hearing, noted: "Is this not a recurring theme?"
She then agreed to the four-week continuation, and the Whytes now have until July 31 to pay up or lose the castle.
At the first court date at Inverness in May, the Bank of Scotland agreed to give the Whytes four weeks to settle. In June, Craig Whyte's lawyer told the court he wanted a further two weeks to agree a settlement.
The couple are no strangers to the civil court. They have been embroiled in court battles in the recent past when Whyte refused to pay his estranged wife £5000-a-month maintenance, which was instructed by the courts.
During their legal tussles, Kim Whyte disclosed the castle was no longer insured, which breached the conditions of the mortgage.
Whyte, who is the subject of an arrest warrant for failing to appear as a witness in a theft trial against his former housekeepers, did not appear at court yesterday. Neither did his estranged wife. She has put her own house in Grantown on the market, saying she does not want her children to grow up in a country where their father is reviled for his business dealings.
Mrs Whyte moved out of Castle Grant when her marriage turned sour three years ago. She and the couple's three children have been living in a six-bedroom detached Victorian villa in Grant Road, Grantown, since the couple's acrimonious split.
Craig Whyte bought Sir David Murray's 85% controlling shareholding in the Ibrox club for £1 in May 2011. He went on to take Rangers into administration after alleged non-payment of £9 million in PAYE and VAT.
Whyte was not available for comment.
A spokesman for HBoS said they could not discuss the case.
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