MAIN sponsors Bridle Insurance have reassured Oxford United fans that they are as committed as ever to the club – despite becoming majority shareholders at Blue Square Bet South side Eastleigh.

“We’ll be involved with Oxford for as long as they want us to be involved,” said chief operations officer Neil Fox.

“The deal we have with Eastleigh is totally separate, it won’t affect our relationship with Oxford.”

United chairman Kelvin Thomas added: “We totally understand that national business cannot stay local to just one area.

“People forget that when Buildbase were our main sponsors, they also sponsored a stand at Stevenage.

“It makes plenty of sense from Bridle’s point of view – they have offices less than a mile away from Eastleigh’s ground.

“But the reality is that the majority of the Bridle office are Oxford fans.”

Bridle have been the U’s sponsors since their return to the Football League in 2010.

“We’ve been very well supported here and we’ve already had conversations regarding next year’s sponsorship,” Fox added.

“The link with the football club has worked very well for us.”