Albion have been priced out of landing prolific Swindon striker Sam Parkin.

Chairman Dick Knight had talks with his Swindon counterpart Willie Carson and made a "speculative offer" but the Seagulls have been overtaken by East Anglian Championship rivals Ipswich and Norwich in the race to sign Parkin.

Swindon are believed to be willing to accept around £700,000 for the former Chelsea marksman.

That is bound to leave the Seagulls well out of the running as far as former top jockey Carson is concerned, in spite of the £250,000 won for them by fan Aaron Berry in a Coca-Cola competition.

Knight revealed today: "We have made an enquiry about him (Parkin) and I had discussions with Willie Carson. He is a proven goalscorer and a quality striker but I think he's too rich for us.

"We have not made a formal bid but we tested the water. They did not turn down my speculative offer but we cannot compete with Norwich and Ipswich until we get a new stadium, even though the player himself had an interest in us.

"The chances of us getting him now are very slim. It's too much for us, even with our nice Coca-Cola windfall."

Ipswich and Norwich are in a tug-of-war for Parkin, who has a year remaining on his contract at the County Ground.

Ipswich have already lost England under-21 front man Darren Bent to Charlton and Shefki Kuqi is on the brink of leaving Portman Road as well.

Relegated Norwich need cover up front, as Dean Ashton is believed to have a clause in his contract allowing him to go to a Premiership club.

Watford and Crewe are also interested in Parkin, who scored against Albion in the play-off semi-finals two seasons ago.

Meanwhile, Albion will invoke the transfer tribunal process this week as Leeds have not come back to them with an improved offer for departing leftback Dan Harding.