The owner of Shoreham airport said it hopes to agree a recovery strategy with its bankers before Christmas. This may involve the sale of its assets.

Erinaceous looked to have got a bargain when it bought the airport for £8.6 million from Brighton and Hove City Council and Worthing Borough Council last year.

But now the property group, which has net debts of £210 million, may have to sell the airport to avoid going through some form of insolvency procedure.

That could scupper major redevelopment plans which include building hangars, offices, a fire station and an overhaul of the Art Deco terminal building.

Erinaceous said it could not "rule anything out" as it sought to "remove the uncertainty which has surrounded the company over the past few weeks".

Last week, the firm parted company with its founders, deputy chairman Neil Bellis and chief operating officer Lucy Cummings, following pressure from shareholders.

The pair, who also own Shoreham Airport-based Fast Helicopters, are understood to have been paid off with a year's salary which they will receive in instalments.

Mr Bellis and Ms Cummings were paid salaries of £395,000 and £341,000 respectively last year, and were employed on notice periods of one year. That means they are walking away with £730,000 in severance pay.

Activist shareholder Fursa had called for an extraordinary general meeting to oust the pair after the company's share price nose-dived from 400p in spring to 11p.

Erinaceous chairman Nigel Turnbull said: "I am pleased that the issues raised by the shareholders' EGM requisition have been addressed satisfactorily.

"Over the past two months, we have restructured the board, appointed new corporate management and strengthened our team of professional advisers.

"The board's focus now is to complete the strategic review announced at the interim results."

Mr Turnbull, along with Tim Redburn, a company turnaround specialist who was drafted in as interim chief executive this month, and Dominic Lavelle, the new finance director, are now weighing up what to do with the business.

One option will be to put the whole affair into administration.

This might be forced upon them if lenders, which include Hsbos, HSBC and Lloyds TSB, decide enough is enough and call in their loans.

Erinaceous's problems began in March last year, when the firm was hit by a multimillion-pound fraud investigation at one of its subsidiaries, which was quickly followed by a collapsed takeover bid for the company.

In September, the full extent of the problem was revealed when it admitted to breaching its banking covenants.