A FORMER commercial director at Rangers has failed in a bid to ring-fence cash at the Ibrox club ahead of a court case in which he seeking a £500,000 payout.

Imran Ahmad, whose employment at Rangers was terminated last year, maintains he is due a bonus payment in an action being opposed by the club.

A four-day hearing of evidence and submissions is due to begin in the case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on April 1.

Ahead of the hearing his lawyers sought to freeze a sum of cash at Rangers pending the case's outcome. But a judge rejected the motion for an arrestment.

Lord Tyre said he accepted that Mr Ahmad had a case at first sight, but was not satisfied that there was a real and substantial risk that enforcement of any court order if he succeeded in his claim would be prejudiced by insolvency. The court heard that finances of a company such as Rangers were cyclical and that there is a dip at this time of year in cash flow.

Kenny McBrearty QC, for Mr Ahmad, said his client's ultimate concern was a very significant operating loss on an ongoing basis.

He said that it was recorded Rangers had available working capital of over £10 million last year, following an earlier injection of £22m into the club.

In his action Mr Ahmad maintains that he would be entitled to five per cent of commercial contracts negotiated by him subject to written approval from the CEO or chairman.

He said that a letter from the then CEO Charles Green had confirmed that his bonus for 2013 would be "no less than 500K".

But Alan Summers QC, for Rangers, said that at the heart of Mr Ahmad's case was "a fundamental deficiency".