Former Watford FC board members Jimmy and Vince Russo have secured a freezing injunction against Laurence Bassini to stop the ex- Hornets owner disposing of his assets.

The Russo brothers' company, Valley Grown Salads, applied for the interim court order as they are claiming Stanmore businessman Bassini has not repaid loans worth more than £4m.

The freezing order was put in place on Friday, December 14 at the Queen’s Bench Division of the High Court of Justice.

There will be another hearing in the New Year but a date had not been set when the Watford Observer went to press yesterday (Thursday) evening.

Jimmy Russo, once chairman of the club with his brother Vince vice-chairman, said there was “an ongoing issue” with Bassini but refused to discuss any details.

Watford’s former owner Bassini, who left the club in June this year, was unavailable for comment.

The Russos, whose Valley Grown Salads business is based in Roydon, Essex, first joined Watford’s board in January 2004 after the brothers invested in excess of £2m into the club.

They played a big part in the football club buying back Vicarage Road in 2004 and were on the board during the promotion-winning season of 2005/06.

The brothers were then controversially removed from the board in 2007 but retained their 29 per cent stake in the club.

The Russos returned after former chairman Graham Simpson and ex-chief executive Mark Ashton resigned in December 2008 and subsequently became chairman and vice-chairman.

The pair then resigned in December 2009 at the parent company’s annual meeting after finding out they were set to be voted off by major shareholder, Lord Michael Ashcroft, and Simpson.

Valley Grown Salads demanded immediate repayment of their £4.88m loan, which led to a fall out with club legend Graham Taylor and the risk of administration.

The Russos ended their formal relationship with Watford when they sold their 29.96 per cent stake in the club to Bassini’s Watford FC Limited.

Bassini owned the Hornets for 14 months but left on June 29 when the Pozzo family, who also own Italian side Udinese and Spanish club Granada, took over.