RANGERS are taking out a new emergency loan from associates of kingpin Dave King while halting plans to drawdown a further £5 million from Sports Direct.

Rangers International Football Club plc said it had entered into loan agreements with Rangers director Douglas Park and Three Bears representatives George Letham and George Taylor for facilities totalling £1.5m.

The company said: "The proceeds of the loans are available generally for the purposes of the Company and will be used for working capital.

"The loans are being made available until 31 December 2015 which will provide the Company with time to deliver a longer term funding solution. No interest or fees are to be charged in respect of the facilities and the loans are being provided on an unsecured basis."

RIFC added: "The Company also announces that it has ceased the process of satisfying the conditions for drawdown of the second tranche of the facility announced on 27 January 2015 with SportsDirect.com Retail Limited and associated companies."

Allies of Sports Direct founder said the second £5 million tranche from Sports Direct's £10m loan was to be used on March 3.

The initial £10 million loan facility from Sports Direct was set up to prevent the Rangers business suffering an insolvency and omitted any requirement to have a security over Ibrox - preferring instead to target the Murray Park training ground and other properties including trademarks.

While £5m was made available to the club as immediate working capital, it will also be used to repay a £3m loan made by the Newcastle United owner last year. There is no indication that that loan is being paid back

As part of the loan deal, Rangers also gave Ashley, for the duration of the loan, a further 26% of shares in Rangers Retail Limited, 49% of which was already owned by the English businessman.

Ashley also has rights to two representatives on the Rangers International Football Club plc board.

Immediately after King and his associates achieved a landslide victory to control the boardroom while evicting remaining Ashley allies Derek Llambias and Barry Leach, he talked about raising more than £20 million in investment in the short to medium term.

Asked if he had the money to turn the club around, King said: "I was willing to go 50/50 with other investors so I think between myself and other investors I think we have sufficient to take it forward in the medium term."

King said he "would expect other individuals" would take up the other 50 per cent, naming chairman-elect Paul Murray, George Letham, Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy and Douglas Park.

"I don't see me carrying the sole burden," he said. "I am standing here looking to invest having lost £20 odd million and I don't think I'll get my money back this time either.

Asked whether Rangers would live within their means, King said: "I think long term they have to, but it's not going to be possible in the short term. I think the gap between Rangers and Celtic is too extreme at the moment because the standard for Rangers is to compete with Celtic. "

In a statement Rangers indicated Dave King would not be involved in club investment until his 'fit and proper' person status had been sorted out. It said the Three Bears stepped in "as the full extent of the financial damage caused by every regime over the last four years becomes clear". Interim chairman Paul Murray said he "wishes to assure fans their Club will recover fully despite those years of gross mismanagement". Mr Murray, who has been studying various contracts closely since he and fellow directors John Gilligan, Douglas Park and John Bennett gained control on March 6, said: "Many of the people who have occupied the Ibrox boardroom during that period should be ashamed of themselves for the parts they played in dragging this great institution towards near financial ruin. "It is actually difficult to look closely at the club's finances and understand the rationale behind some of the decisions taken. "Let me give just two examples of the recklessness displayed by those who were removed from office just more than two weeks ago. One is the amount - in the region of £300,000 - spent on a needless general meeting and the other is the signing of five Newcastle loan players without medicals. "This is simply appalling." Rangers said the investment from the Three Bears, "secures the immediate future" and will allow the new board to continue their "damage analysis" before putting together their medium to long-term funding package. "We hope to present this package in the coming weeks but I want to thank George, Douglas and George who continue to demonstrate their commitment to the club," Mr Murray added. The acting chairman also pointed out that Dave King will be given the opportunity to invest in the club in the weeks ahead. "He is not doing so at the moment because, as we have said, we respect the processes of the SFA and must wait until they have completed their review of Dave's status before he can fully participate in the future of the club," said Mr Murray. "After that we will be inviting him to invest alongside the gentlemen who have just provided today's facility and others who are also willing to invest. "We can and we will rebuild the Club and this £1.5m investment is stage one of the process." Mr Murray added: "We have already made it clear we are happy to engage with Sports Direct but the board has decided against drawing down the second £5m tranche of Sports Direct's £10m loan. "We are still in the process of reviewing all of the contractual relationships that Sports Direct has with the club and we hope to conclude this review very shortly."