THE future of a popular sports and social club is in doubt due to the demise of the Coryton oil refinery.

The Pegasus Club in Herd Lane, Corringham, has more than a thousand members, but could be sold off by administrators still looking through company assets of Coryton’s owners, Petroplus.

It is home to nine cricket teams, six football sides, two rugby teams, 60 members of a bowls club, three darts teams, a gymnasium, and a fishing lake.

Its future was already a concern as Coryton workers make up 51 per cent of the club’s membership and hundreds of them will be made redundant by the end of September when Coryton closes and is turned into a oil storage terminal.

Pegasus member Gil Moore Senior is keen for Shell, which is buying the refinery as a storage terminal, to take the club under its wing.

Mr Moore, from Anthony Drive, Corringham, said: “The Pegasus club has a total membership of more than 1,000, and its facilities are second to none in Essex.

“The club is special to the local community, both young and old, and we feel it must remain as it is and not be sold off.

“If this consortium isallowed to get away with just buying out the refinery and doing nothing for the local community, it will be criminal. We won’t go down without a fight.”

Fellow member Ken Matthews, who also lives in Corringham, said: “This is the last remaining sports facility of its kind in Thurrock. To take it away from the children who use it would be wicked.”

A spokesman for the administrators PriceWaterhouse Coopers said: “Unfortunately there isn't an update on the club yet. The administrators are at this stage focusing energy on the process of closing the refinery, which is a complex exercise, and they will look at the options they have in due course.”