OXFORD Brookes University is being urged to reveal whether it has clinched a deal to buy the Lord Nuffield Club in Cowley.

Local people submitted their own bid to try to save the club, with an adjoining playing field and bowling green, as a community facility after it went into administrative receivership.

But they claim plans have been scuppered by the bidding power of Brookes University.

Residents have now organised a petition expressing concern about the loss of a community facility if a sale to Brookes goes ahead.

They fear it will result in student accommodation or social facilities being built on the site.

The university has refused to confirm or deny whether it has been involved in negotiations to buy the Barracks Lane club.

Brookes University yesterday released a statement to the Oxford Mail suggesting that some community access to the site will remain following any deal.

University spokesman Edward Reed said: “The club is still in the hands of the receiver and ultimately decisions regarding the sale of the club are down to it. As is usual in cases of this type, the sale and purchase process is covered by strict confidentiality agreements and the university has done its best to make this clear to the members.

“But whatever the outcome of the sale, the planning restrictions on the site will require some form of community access.”