Ex-Liverpool star John Barnes owes £238,000 tax

Tax officials says the former Liverpool and England footballer John Barnes owes £238,000 - as they lodged a bankruptcy petition against him.

Judge Catherine Burton considered Barnes’ case at a hearing in a specialist court in London on Wednesday 6th September.

She made no orders and said the case would be reconsidered on 29 November.

Barnes was not at the hearing.

Barrister Nathan Webb, who represented Barnes, told the judge that his client "just" needed time to pay and asked for an adjournment.

"Mr Barnes is very well and able to pay," Mr Webb told Judge Burton on Wednesday.

"He just requires a bit of time."

Another judge had dismissed another bankruptcy petition lodged by tax officials against Barnes in June.

HMRC officials had indicated, during that earlier litigation, that Barnes had owed at least £200,000.

They had told a judge that money owed had been paid.

Barnes, 59, played for Liverpool, Watford and Newcastle.

He also won 79 England caps between 1983 and 1995 and was head coach at Celtic after ending his playing career.

Barnes was appointed a ''club ambassador'' at Liverpool FC in November– a role that would "see him represent the Reds at home and abroad".