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The sale of embattled National League club Southend United has been delayed because of "legal formalities", according to owner Ron Martin.

A takeover deal with a consortium headed by Australian businessman Justin Rees was agreed on 3 October and was hoped to be completed by 1 November.

The deal is not now anticipated to go through until 17 November.

A shareholders' meeting has been called so a resolution to increase the share capital in the club can be passed.

"The sale of the club to the consortium led by Justin Rees is progressing, however, for the reasons explained below, the target completion date of 1 November is going to slip,"

"It is a condition of the sale, requested by the consortium, that the share capital in the club be increased.

"My group of companies holds sufficient voting rights to ensure that the resolution is passed, but legal formalities need to be followed, including a statutory notice period of not less than 21 days, which means completion cannot be considered until 17 November."

The deal for Rees and his consortium to buy the Shrimpers, who are currently 19th in the table, was announced less than 24 hours before the club were due in the High Court to face an HM Revenue & Customs winding-up petition, which could have seen them closed down.