OXFORD Cheetahs' speedway promoter Steve Purchase resigned in protest from the British Speedway Promoters Association last night.

The shock decision came after Belle Vue were granted special dispensation by the BSPA to use Czech rider Sam Tesar as guest in place of Peter Nahlin for last night's Elite League clash.

The rules state that a rider must have a clear eight days before he can return to the same track as a guest rider and Tesar starred in the

Peterborough victory for the Panthers last Friday.

It means that the sole Oxford promoter at present is Vanessa Purchase.

But it's her husband, Steve, who holds the purse strings and the move could have serious consequences for Oxford speedway.

It was a poignant moment before last night's clash as both teams and fans alike stood in silence to pay their respects to Oxford rider Jon Underwood who was tragically killed in a road accident on the way back from Holland last weekend.

Presenter Richard Palmer read out a brief tribute the likeable Underwood, who was a recent winner of a grasstrack meeting at Dalton Barracks, in Abingdon.

Funeral arrangements will be announced in thge next week or so.