It will indeed be good news if the Morris Motors Athletic and Social Club at Cowley, Oxford, rises from the ashes.

Oxford has seen too many traditional organisations fold in recent years.

It would have been disappointing to see yet another go out of existence.

The Morris Motors' club has a fine history, dating back to the 1920s when it was set up by the architect of the Cowley car industry, William Morris, later Lord Nuffield.

Its record of providing sporting and social activities for car workers and their families, and many others outside the factory, is a fine one.

On the face of it, the offer to save the club by Eddie Costello, of Chesside Homes, which is developing 17 homes and 46 flats next door to its site in Crescent Road, looks attractive.

He says it is his intention to pay off the creditors and get the club up and running again.

We hope it does work out.

But there must be assurances that the rescue package is in the club's best interests.

The club, above all, needs financial stability, sound leadership and an end to the bitter infighting and hostility which has tarnished its reputation in recent years.