By WILLIAM TINNING

MILLIONAIRE motor dealer Arnold Clark yesterday told of his shock when he learned that the dealership he had just bought had been about to be placed in the hands of the receiver.

He said he would have thought twice about the deal had he known receivership was looming at the Glasgow-based H Prosser and Sons Ltd, one of Scotland's oldest family car dealerships.

Ironically, Mr Clark is one of many creditors who are owed several hundred thousand pounds by Prosser, which embarked on a high-profile newspaper advertising campaign over the years to promote the business.

One advertising slogan boasted that Dennis and Stan Prosser, who headed the operation, were ``the youngest 100-year-olds in the business''.

Mr Clark bought the core business, including buildings, stock, and some vehicles, for more than #1m on January 5 - 12 days before accountants Coopers & Lybrand were appointed as receivers.

Mr Clark is not liable for any of the debt. Prosser was controlled by a number of shareholders, including several family members.

The sale means the Prosser name - synonymous with garage forecourt car sales for almost 105 years in the West of Scotland - will disappear, to be replaced by the Macharg, Rennie, and Lindsay title owned by Mr Clark.

Mr Clark said yesterday: ``Members of the Prosser family, whom I have been friendly with for many years, approached me and said they wanted to get out of the business and realise their assets.

``We agreed a deal and this was concluded. I was shocked to learn later that the company was being put into receivership. I had no idea this was going to happen, otherwise I may have thought twice about becoming involved.''

He said the creditors were now the concern of the receivers and debts owed to them were nothing to do with his group, which has more than 50 dealerships in Scotland and England. ``Indeed, I am one of the creditors,'' said Mr Clark. ``Quite a bit of money is owed to us by Prosser.''

Mr Clark said the operation at Royston, including the Rover franchise, parts department, and jobs of 68 employees, had been saved and would now operate under the Macharg, Rennie, and Lindsay name.

Mr Dennis Prosser, 45, the former managing director of the firm, will stay on as sales manager. His younger brother Stan, a former director of Prosser, left several months ago when he bought out Prosser Marine, in nearby Blochairn Road, from the shareholding group controlling Prosser. Neither brother was available for comment yesterday.

One of the joint receivers, Mr Ian Rankin, said yesterday it was ``perfectly feasible'' that Mr Clark would not have known about the company's predicament.

Mr Rankin said: ``Before the site and assets were sold to Mr Clark, the company had a number of debts due in respect of the substantial parts business it operated.

``I would be surprised if Mr Clark would have known about the receivership. When you buy a bookshop, you don't always look at every book.

``It was a direction the Prosser directors took that the company, as it then stood, after selling the assets, could not carry on.''

Mr Rankin said the receivers expected to recover some outstanding debts but he said it was unlikely enough money would be recovered to settle the claims of creditors, which would still amount to several hundred thousand pounds.

Mr David Clark, financial director and secretary of the Scottish Motor Trade Association, expressed ``surprise and disappointment'' that the ``long-established and well-respected'' Prosser name was to disappear from the forecourts.

However, he did not believe the firm's demise would have a ``domino effect'' among hard-pressed car dealers in Scotland, where he said business was ``slowly improving''.