Watford owner Laurence Bassini has revealed plans to pay off the club's bondholders in full and leave the Championship club debt-free.

Bassini bought the Hornets for £440,000 last April, with a total of just over £10million in bonds repayable in stages to former majority shareholder Lord Ashcroft among others.

That figure currently stands at around £9million after Bassini made a £1million payment immediately after taking the reins, and the Watford chief - who already owns 100% of the club's shares - has set the wheels in motion to pay off the outstanding balance.

In a lengthy Q&A on the club's official website, Bassini said: "I've no intention of defaulting on the payments.

"Quite the opposite, actually, my financial people are actually putting together the paperwork necessary to pay the bondholders off in full so the club can actually say it's debt-free for once."

Bassini came under fire from supporters in November after pulling out of a fans' forum at Vicarage Road due to illness as well as a rearranged live radio phone-in, with the Q&A on Watford's website allowing supporters to quiz the businessman for the first time since his takeover.