Receivers have been called in to the historic Lord Nuffield Club, formerly known as the Morris Motors Social and Athletic Club in Cowley, in a wrangle over an unpaid electricity bill — believed to be tens of thousands of pounds.

The doors of the club, which employs 15 people and opened in 1920, have been shut for more than a week.

Club secretary Michael Kelly said: “The electricity supply was cut off and with no money coming in our mortgage company, Nationwide, put the receivers in.”

The situation is the latest chapter in a bitter, long-running saga over the running of the club and its move to its current site less than two years ago.

In 2007 it was put into the hands of the Official Receiver and was due to be liquidated until it was rescued by developer Eddie Costelloe who handed the committee a new clubhouse in exchange for being allowed to develop part of the site for housing.