Rangers owner Craig Whyte used future income from the club's match-day catering to pay for new kitchen equipment at Ibrox.

The club received new cookers and other catering equipment in a deal with finance house Close Leasing in October 2011.

This equipment from the Surrey company made up part of the £1.7m investment to upgrade the kitchens and big screens at Ibrox, promised by Mr Whyte in his purchase agreement when he took over the club last May.

According to documents lodged with Companies House, the agreement with Close Leasing sees it receive a proportion of the income Rangers make from their contract with catering firm Azure. It is understood this revenue stream is being used to pay back the debt for the kitchen equipment.

The amount Rangers owe Close and the length of the deal is not publicly available. Close Leasing refused to comment, stating that it was a "confidential client matter".

Last year, Azure renewed its contract with Rangers for nine years, and also took over cleaning duties at Ibrox, in a deal worth £35m.

The use of the finance tactic by Mr Whyte to pay for part of his pledged investment in Rangers comes after he finally confirmed he had sold future season ticket sales to London firm Ticketus for £24.4m to help fund his takeover.

Administrators Duff and Phelps revealed £18m had been taken from the Ticketus deal to pay off the club’s debt to Lloyds Banking Group, while the insolvency firm is currently trying to account for the remaining £6m or so from the season tickets payment.