Oxford University's oldest independent newspaper faces ruin after thousands of pounds of unpaid bills were discovered, writes Roseena Parveen.

The Cherwell, based in St Aldate's, Oxford, has been run independently by students since 1920. It launched the careers of many great writers, including George Orwell, Graham Greene and Philip Larkin.

The paper now faces sale or closure because of poor financial management by students last term.

New editor Jon Boone found more than £25,000 of unpaid bills hidden under a mass of office paperwork. Only an emergency bank loan warded off creditors.

Managers had, for a year, failed to invoice advertisers, on whom the paper relies heavily for its survival. They also failed to secure in writing a sponsorship deal worth £15,000, while VAT returns had not been completed.

Mr Boone, a third-year history student at Worcester College, said the future of the paper was far from secure. The loan must be repaid by January, but the paper needed to find even more cash to keep going. He said: "It was a mixture of bad luck and poor management. The people who ran the paper in the last two terms allowed the paper to accumulate debt, particularly with printers.

"They have also been spending money on crazy things without realising that the money was not there."

With stringent budgeting and a massive new drive to attract advertisers, Mr Boone said there was hope the loan might be repaid in time. But he added: "Come January there will be no big profits to keep us going throughout the year."

The Cherwell provides university news and gossip, competing with the university's own internal newspapers.

One of the options facing the paper, if a massive cash injection is not found in time, is sale to the Oxford Union.

Oxford Union spokesman Daniel Johnson said the union would be interested, but denied reports of a hostile take-over bid.

Mr Boone said selling to the union would be a last resort and it would be a tragedy to end the paper's independence.