AN action group set up to save Chester’s top-flight basketball club is closing in on its £50,000 fundraising target – but there is still plenty of work to be done.

Supporters of Cheshire Basketball Club, formerly known as the Jets, have until a week tomorrow to hit the £50,000 mark and show the British Basketball League (BBL) that there is still enough passion for the sport in Cheshire to sustain a pro team.

If they manage to reach their target, the fans will ask the BBL to transfer the Cheshire franchise to them and they will run the club as a not-for-profit community organisation, similar to Chester FC.

The action group, led by local businessmen Andrew Donaldson and Terry Hearfield, legendary former Jets coach Mike Burton and current team manager Andy Green, now faces a crucial week as they fight to save the club from oblivion.

Donaldson, a director of BiG Storage on Sealand Road, said: “We are more than halfway to our total and we are in discussions with businesses that will take us closer.

“But we are down to the wire now. We need people to come on board now and sponsor the team.

“This is one of the greatest clubs in British basketball and we don’t want to see it slip away. We want to restore it to its former glory.”

Their mission has been made more complex by the sale of the Cheshire Jets name by the club’s former owner Haydn Cook.

The Jets ‘brand’ is now in the hands of a sports agency called Harvard Global, who have published a number of statements relating to the club on their website but have yet to agree to an interview with The Chronicle.

As a result, fans voted on a new name for the club last Sunday when Cheshire played Manchester Giants at the Northgate Arena.

They chose ‘Cheshire Phoenix’, which will become the new club name should the action group successfully adopt the franchise from the BBL.

With sponsors like Abode Hotel and Brio Leisure on board, there is still confidence that the club can be saved.

A BBL spokesman said: “We have been in dialogue with those hoping to adopt the franchise.

“A lot of work has been done and we hope there will be a resolution soon.”

Donaldson still wants to recruit as many local businesspeople to the cause as possible.

He said: “This is the crunch time now. If you are thinking about helping us, time is fast running out.”

To follow the campaign on Twitter visit @SaveTheJets, like their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/savejetsbasketball or to contact the action group visit www.savethejets.co.uk .