A judge has rejected an attempt by Rangers chairman Dave King to stop a financial watchdog from bringing contempt of court proceedings against him.

The proceedings arise out of Mr King's failure to comply with a court order in December to make a bid for most of the club's shares after ruling he acted with other shareholders to take control in 2015, ousting a board of directors said to be allied to Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley.

Lady Wolffe has now ruled that one of her colleagues could decide on whether the South Africa-based businessman deliberately chose not to follow the order made by Lord Bannatyne.

He supported the Takeover Panel's view that a formal takeover should have been triggered after the Three Bears group led by Mr King secured more than 30 per cent of the voting rights in Rangers four years ago.

Under Takeover Code rules, a written offer to shareholders had to be made within 28 days of a bid announcement being made on March 29 - but so far it has not been forthcoming.

The Ibrox chief has been fighting through the courts to stave off pressure to buy the shares, fearing the heavy financial toll it would place on him.

During one hearing in October, Mr King's advocate Lord Davidson of Glen Clova QC argued that the Rangers chief "is penniless" adding: "Any order wouldn't secure compliance. It won't. It is pointless."

The Rangers chief has already been told that he is in breach of takeover rules by failing to make the mandatory bid.

Mr King has previously argued that a judge went "too far" in ordering him to make a mandatory offer at a price of 20p a share and has said there has been a hold up because of the difficulty in getting funds from South Africa to the UK.

Mr King's legal representatives has argued that the law stated the panel needed to have the agreement of Scotland's most senior prosecutor, the Lord Advocate, before it could proceed.

Advocate Jonathan Mitchell QC, for Mr King said that the organisation didn't have the Lord Advocate's agreement and that the action against their client should be stopped.

The question of the Lord Advocate's involvement had previously arisen because the unique court action by the financial watchdog is being brought as a civil matter that could have criminal consequences. The call for his involvment was believed to be responsible for delaying what would be the first enforcement action the panel has taken since being given statutory powers 12 years ago.

Contempt of court is punishable by a fine and imprisonment.

However, in a written judgement issued at the Court of Session, Lady Wolffe rejected the arguments saying the law dictates that the Lord Advocate's agreement is needed only in some cases.

She stated: "In the light of these authorities, I find that there is no merit in Mr Mitchell's argument.

"No case was cited in which the Lord Advocate's concurrence was required to a contempt of court involving an order which was not an interdict.

"For these reasons, the respondent's concurrence challenge falls.

A written offer to shareholders had to be made within 28 days of a bid announcement being made on March 29. Mr King has previously said the bid made through his South African-based Laird Investments (Proprietary) Limited has been held up because he has yet to transfer funds to the UK.

One of the key outstanding issues still to be overcome by Mr King is to have a third party provide cash confirmation that the money for the judge-ordered bid for shares is actually there.

Under Takeover Code rules if the confirmation is given and the money is not there, the Panel can bring an action against the third party 'guarantor' to recover the money for shareholders.

In April, a letter to shareholders from John Bennett, the chairman of an "independent directors" group of RIFC said that an original announcement from Mr King's company had not been "cash confirmed" by a third party as required by Rule 2.7(d) of the Takeover Code.

He said in a circular that "this will be addressed promptly" after April 4 so that when the official offer to shareholders is made, the cash to fund it will be ringfenced by a third party.

The King-led takeover group – which included Park's Motor Group founder Douglas Park, Rangers Supporters Trust and Rangers First member George Taylor and Rangers fan George Letham – had always denied that they had acted 'in concert' to purchase shares in Rangers on December 31 2014 and January 2, 2015.