A coach company which has gone into administration with claimed debts of up to £1million has been sold on to an associated company for just £30,000.

Greys Hire, part of The Heritage Group and directed by Christopher Stepe, went into administration earlier this month.

After being secretly marketed for a pre-packaged sale, Greys Hire was sold to City of Chichester Coaches – registered at the same Henfield address and directed by Stepe’s son Russell.

The Heritage group includes some 30 companies including: TheSussexBus, Round And About, Sussex Commercial Services, Coach Hire Coaches and Crawley Reds, and are run by the Stepe family mostly from Caudle Street in Henfield.

The group’s main income is providing coaches to schools for West Sussex County Council.

Mr Stepe told The Argus despite the insolvency it was “business as usual” for Heritage group.

The report by administrator Leonard Curtis shows the main creditor Kevin Benton, the company’s former landlord when based at Star Road Industrial Estate in Partridge Green, claims he is owed £100,000 – rising to around £1million when including legal costs.

Meanwhile NatWest says it is owed £100,000 – money Mr Stepe says is owed to a connected company.

According to documents seen by The Argus from administrators, Mr Stepe blames Mr Benton for a “significant” rent hike in 2013.

Following a dispute, the landlord ended the lease and took possession of the site, going on to claim for dilapidation, concerning the alleged poor state of the site, and legal costs.

In the administrators report Mr Stepe said this forced the company into financial difficulty and it filed a Notice of Intention to Appoint Administrators in April.

The company was marketed for sale valued at £30,000, but City of Chichester Coaches were the only company to make an offer, buying the assets on May 8 – excluding three vehicles worth £7,000, subject to finance with Lloyds Bank.

Mr Benton claims the coach group repeatedly breached the terms of its lease and he received persistent complaints from neighbours about its use of the land.

He said he was considering pursuing a separate legal case against Mr Stepe.

Mr Benton said: “They left the site with unpaid rent and utilities and now they’ve entered administration.”

Mr Stepe told The Argus: “It will be business as usual for us and we will continue working with West Sussex County Council.

“We have 30-odd companies and there’s nothing hidden, all the money is accounted for at Companies House.”