An 11th-hour payment of outstanding money by the Bradford Bulls' shirt sponsor Skylark to the Super League club has stopped legal action against it.

A Bulls spokesman confirmed its solicitors had received a cheque from the solicitors of Brendan Larkin, owner of Skylark and its parent company Lyne Baxter, at 4pm yesterday, only about an hour before the deadline of close of business.

The club was due to lodge two insolvency petitions at Leeds County Court today calling for the winding up of Skylark, over the non-payment of £176,250.

The first petition was to be against Skylark and the second against its parent company, Lyne Baxter.

But two other companies which had supported the Bulls' insolvency petition, including one from Bradford, were expected to continue action against Skylark after an expected adjournment of today's court hearing.

A spokesman for Mr Larkin said: "The money has been paid to the Bulls' solicitors and from that I assume that the whole thing is over."

A spokesman for the Bulls' solicitors confirmed it had received the cheque for £176,250.

The Bulls has twice been handed cheques for the sponsorship money, part of a £300,000 deal, which have not been cleared by Skylark's bankers.

The first occasion, only two days before the cup semi-final, was on Friday, March 30, but the cheque was handed back by bankers the following Monday.

At the second failed attempt, in early April, Mr Larkin said he had asked the Bulls not to deposit the cheque until his solicitors gave the clearance, a fact which the club denied.

The Bulls resumed the winding up proceedings against Skylark in the run up to the cup final on April 28 against St Helens.

The Bulls wore the Skylark logo on their shirts for both the semi-final and final of the Rugby League Challenge Cup, despite not having been paid the money.

Skylark runs indoor sports centres, pubs and a music recording business. It is one of several firms in the Lyne Baxter stable.