Blooms quit at Eurocity

ONE-TIME boxer turned property developer Desmond Bloom has thrown in the towel at Alternative Investment Market-listed Eurocity Properties. The former minder to the late Screaming Lord Sutch resigned after a rebellion led by major shareholder Andrew Perloff of Panther Securities.

Bloom's son Baron, 28, has already quit the board. Perloff, who controls 29%, wanted the Blooms out, accusing them of lavish overheads including chauffeurs. He was horrified at their plans to buy a property complex in China. 'It was the final straw,' he said. 'It would have swamped the company with a 90% increase in share capital.'

At an extraordinary general meeting on Thursday Perloff and his partner Peter Rowson were voted on to the board. Small shareholder John Stewart said: 'We owe them our thanks for having got rid of the Blooms.' Desmond Bloom did not comment.

Chairman Nicholas Jeffrey, who backed the Blooms, now faces calls to quit at the annual general meeting. Eurocity shares were unchanged at 23 1/2p.