EDDIE Davies, the local-born businessman who has invested heavily in Bolton Wanderers, has boosted his already substantial stake in the club's parent company, Burnden Leisure.

Mr Davies, a director of the plc for two years, has bought 1.1 million shares in Burnden Leisure to take his shareholding to 11.1 million - 7.7 per cent of the company.

A former pupil at Farnworth Grammar School, he lives in the Isle of Man, where he is executive chairman of the Strix Group - a successful, award-winning company - and was awarded the OBE for services to industry.

He is said, by Burnden chairman Phil Gartside, to have invested more personal wealth into Wanderers, in the form of stock and loans, than any single individual in the club's history.