1.   Kingfisher was forced to show its hand after rumours that a bid was in the offing began to circulate on Tuesday.

2.   Most bids were hostile, or were responses to actual or threatened hostile bids.

3.   The second is currently being tendered, and the bids are to be invited soon for the third plot.

4.   There is no suggestion that people directly involved with Kingfisher profited from knowing that a bid was imminent.

5.   Our bid was the lowest tender.

6.   For the first time bids were by competitive tender, a highly controversial system introduced by the government in an attempt to increase competition.

7.   The bid is there at one thousand nine hundred pounds one thousand nine hundred pounds.

8.   The upshot of all this is that a Court Scheme may not be a viable proposition if there are likely to be competitive bids.