James Easdale has quit as Rangers director, it has been announced.

Bus tycoon Easdale, a non-executive director on the board, resigned on Wednesday morning.

It comes just over a week before the club holds its EGM.

Easdale's brother and business partner, Sandy, is football club chairman and controls more than 20% of club shares.

In a statement, he said: "When I joined the board of Rangers Football Club I knew this wasn't just another business. In reality it is so much more to many people all around the world.

"After what the fans have been through with previous owners and managements it is hardly surprising they are heartily sick of the whole affair and they now seek another way forward.

"I drew great comfort from the shareholder votes in my favour at the AGM on December 22 - almost 90% - however it was clear that this cut little ice with the fans who attended Ibrox on that day.

"However, I personally feel to remain on the board even after securing shareholder backing once more, would be a hollow victory for me without the fans' support to help the club go forward.

"If a pragmatic solution is not achieved we will see this endless acrimony continue and it would make the job of attracting fans back to Ibrox even more difficult. The club requires big match day attendances and big investment to thrive, or in turn the performance on the pitch will continue to suffer.

"I also want to dispel any remaining doubt that I received any remuneration from Rangers. I did not. Instead I chose to work for free to benefit the club.

"I want to see Rangers flourish again with both fans and shareholders working in harmony.

"To help achieve that objective, I think it is in the best interests of the Club that I step aside and resign from the board of Rangers FC.

"I have formally tendered my resignation to the chairman today and I would like to thank all the shareholders and fans who gave me their support and I look forward to seeing Rangers becoming once again the force it should be in football and supporting them on the journey."

The announcement came hours after the Rangers Supporters Trust revealed it had bought a chunk of shares previously controlled by Sandy Easdale, the brother of James.

The fan-ownership campaign group announced on Tuesday purchased an 450,000 shares from Beaufort Nominees, which had previously proxied its shares to Sandy Easdale, who is chairman of the club board but is not on the PLC board.

That took the RST's block of proxies and owned shares to 3.8 per cent and increased the pressure on the Rangers board ahead of a general meeting on March 6. Another fan group, Rangers First, has a 2.5 per cent block and both are voting against the board.

Major shareholder Dave King is seeking to remove the board, which now consists of Barry Leach, Derek Llambias and David Somers, and install himself, Paul Murray and John Gilligan.

Sandy Easdale has 6.45 per cent of shares but also controlled a proxy block of more than 19 per cent, which includes the stakes of Blue Pitch and Margarita holdings. Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, whose close associates Llambias and Leach face removal, has an 8.9 per cent stake.

King has a 14.6 per cent stake and the Three Bears, who will also vote against the board, have a combined holding of nearly 20 per cent.

RST spokesman Chris Graham welcomed the resignation but warned that work was still needed to achieve its goal of regime change.

Graham told Sky Sports News: "It's good that the Easdale brothers have finally given Rangers supporters something to celebrate.

"We are pleased that James Easdale has gone but obviously there is still a job to be done. There's another three directors on the PLC board and his brother still sits on the football board.

"So it's a battle won but the war is not won yet and we need to keep the focus on removing the rest of the board."

Explaining the trust's opposition to the departing director, Graham added: "Essentially he has been part of a board that has taken some very odd decisions in terms of short-term loans."

The campaign continued with Rangers First breaking through the 12,000 members mark with the purchase of 200,000 more shares to give it a shareholding of 2.25 per cent to add to a proxy block of 0.7 per cent.