Businessman John Batchelor dies aged 51

CONTROVERSIAL businessman, motor racing tycoon and former York City director John Batchelor has died.

Wilmslow-based Mr Batchelor, who was 51, died in Stockport’s Stepping Hill Hospital after suffering from liver disease.

He was disqualified from acting as a company director for seven years last December after an eight-month investigation by the Insolvency Service in Manchester.

The probe centred on Mr Batchelor’s acquisition of two Lancashire cleaning products firms, Nelson-based Moornate Chemists and The Besglos Polish Company in Burnley, in 2007.

Mr Batchelor is reported to have made a fortune after he sold his stake in System Hygiene, in Altham near Accrington, in 1999.

He subsequently founded a motor racing team and changed his name to both John Top Gear and later John B&Q to secure publicity and financial backing.

In 2002, Mr Batchelor bought York City but his reign at the Bootham Crescent club was clouded in controversy and saw it come close to extinction.