THE CLOCK is ticking for the owners of £50m of shares in Saints' sponsors, life insurers Friends Provident, to claim them.

Policyholders in the former mutual, which made its stock market debut in 2001, have less than three months left to notify bosses of their entitlement to the shares before they are sold off.

The trustees will sell any stock left unclaimed on July 9.

The unclaimed £50m in shares represents about two per cent of Friends Provident's £2.69 billion capitalisation. A spokesman said the company's efforts to contact the shares' owners had proved unsuccessful.

Most members of Friends Provident received shares when the 170-year-old society demutalised, with the minimum windfall being 200 shares.

Any unaware owners will discover that the windfall has already dropped about £200 in value since the flotation because of the life insurance sector's under-performance on the Stock Exchange.

The value of the basic package - some savers received more - was £504 in summer 2001 before falling to its current level of £312.

Priced at 225p on the company's 2001 debut, shares are currently changing hands for aabout 156p.

The government is keen that unclaimed assets should go to charities. However, the society's former members may be eligible for cash compensation for the shares if they act before July 2013.

Friends Provident, which has a £1m team shirt sponsorship deal with the Premiership club and the naming rights to St Mary's stadium, employs 1,060 staff at Salisbury.