Sacked Stobart Group director Andrew Tinkler has snubbed a suggestion by the firm's bosses that he should sell his stake in the firm.

In the latest twist in a protracted battle for the future of the company, Stobart Group bosses yesterday confirmed that they want to buy out Tinkler as part of a proposal to bring stability back to a company.

The crisis escalated last Friday after a majority of shareholders voted at the firm's Annual General Meeting to re-elect Tinkler to the board - yet within hours the millionaire had been sacked for a second time.

In a letter posted on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), Stobart Group said it has also started the search for a new chairman just says after Iain Ferguson was narrowly re-elected to the role at the company’s heated Annual General Meeting.

But reacting to the share buyout suggestion, Mr Tinkler - who owns 7 per cent of Stobart Group - told in-Cumbria he was not tempted to sell.

"No," he said.

"It's not about me. It's about doing the right thing for the shareholders and the business.

"They're trying to take control of the business. A majority of shareholders decided that they wanted me back on the board. They should be the people who control the business, not the directors. They're just there to do a job, and what they are not doing is listening to the shareholders.

"If the directors want to control the company they should make an offer to all shareholders, not just me.

"At the end of the day, it's not about buying or selling shares; it's about doing the right thing for the business."

Mr Tinkler acknowledged that the publicly played out dispute is damaging the reputation of Stobart Group, but he is adamant that he will not walk away from the company that he played a major role in making a global success.

Mr Tinkler has now been axed from the Stobart Group board twice: first in June when he was accused of destabilising the company by trying to oust the chairman Iain Ferguson so he could be replaced by retail tycoon and Cumbria’s richest man, Philip Day; and then again last week, after 51.4 per cent of shareholders backed his return as a director.

Meanwhile, the vote on whether to elect retail tycoon Philip Day to the Stobart Group board, with a view to him becoming its chairman has been put on hold indefinitely.

An Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) was due to take place on July 18 for shareholders to vote on whether the Edinburgh Woollen Mill boss should take a seat on the board.

Andrew Tinkler – along with two other major shareholders, Allan Jenkinson and funds acting through Woodford Investment Management Limited – have been pushing for Mr Day to replace current chairman Iain Ferguson, who is to step down from the role once a replacement is found.

In the letter posted on the London Stock Exchange, Stobart Group said they will use specialist recruiters to find a new chairman, senior independent director and one or more addition non-executive directors.

The move has been welcomed by Mr Tinkler described the move to as a “step in the right direction” but added: “However, in my view it cannot happen quickly enough and I will be pressing the new Board to conduct a full investigation into the conduct of the outgoing directors.”

"Given the uncertainty which has been created by this latest announcement and the fact that the current board has shown itself willing to remove any director from office who does not agree with the actions of the board, I have come to the conclusion that no purpose would be served by proposing the election of Philip Day as a director of the Company at this stage.

"I am therefore proposing that the meeting convened for 18 July is adjourned indefinitely, without the resolution being put to the meeting. I reserve the right to propose further resolutions at the appropriate time in order to ensure that the required changes to the board are made at the earliest opportunity.”

A spokesperson for Mr Day added: "Mr Day has agreed to not be proposed at the upcoming general meeting while other matters are resolved."

The chairmanship and future strategy of the infrastructure and support services company have been at the heart of a bitter public battle between Stobart Group chiefs and Mr Tinkler.

Mr Tinkler has argued that change is needed and wrote to shareholders last month to elect Mr Day to the board, stressing: “he’s an entrepreneur, with a record of success. Philip would give good guidance to the people who run this company, and it’s a privilege to work with somebody like that. He’s very clever and talks a lot of sense.”

However, his suitability was questioned by Andrew Wood, senior independent director at the company, in his own letter to shareholders urging them to reject the motion.