THE Well Society have revealed they are just over 600 members short of their target as they seek to take control at Motherwell.

The fan group had stated the wanted to 2000 paying adults to be part of the organisation that was originally set up to take over from John Boyle as majority shareholder.

Since its launch Lanarkshire millionaire businessman Les Hutchison stepped in to help facilitate the deal and has recently agreed to transfer his stake at Fir Park over to the Society.

Negotiations for the handover are at an advanced stage and bosses at the fan group have revealed that a total of 1872 members have signed up the scheme, with 1370 of them being adults.

The announcement comes with the news that the Well Society, through one-off donations, monthly direct debits, yearly renewals and new members, took in a record £12,234.96 over the month of May.

“We are delighted to post May’s figures which have came in at a record high for us,” said a statement from the Society board. “This again shows considerable progress as we build towards a fan owned future for the club.

“We are delighted to see such a significant increase this month, however as we continue to say there is still a long way to go and we need to keep recruiting new members as well as encouraging existing members to either pledge or renew if they haven’t already done so.

“It is worth noting that our monthly figures may be somewhat sporadic due to the receipt of the above mentioned donations together with particular months where annual renewals are due.

“As previously stated ownership negotiations are at an advanced stage and we aim to give you an update in the very near future.

“Once again we would like to thank every fan who has contributed this month. We appreciate with season ticket sales as well as maybe family holidays round the corner this may have been an expensive time for some so we are extremely grateful to each and every member who has supported us.”

The Society aim to build up a big enough reserve so that it can provide cash injections to the club if needed and also have working money to help run the Ladbrokes Premiership side at the point of takeover.

It is hoped 2000 paying members contributing £10 a month will hit the yearly income target of £240,000.