P.H. Vine was Alan Howard's accountant. In the summer of 1970, Alan's financial affairs reached the stage where he was in danger of being declared a bankrupt and Mr Vine called a meeting of all of his creditors to offer them a voluntary arrangement whereby they would be paid back some nine shillings in the pound on the £5,132 he owed them, pointing out that if the matter went before the courts, the sum they received could be considerably less. Belligerent Willie Piggott was at the packed meeting and attempted his best to stir things up for Alan but Vine's calmness as chairman of the meeting and the support of Len Fairclough carried the day.