A Formula One racing team boss wants to buy the ailing Daewoo car research and design complex at Worthing.

Tom Walkinshaw, managing director of Arrows, has put in a bid for the technical centre, off Lyons Way.

Union officials now want to talk to Mr Walkinshaw about the future of the 500-strong workforce.

Mr Walkinshaw has already made one visit to the complex, landing in a helicopter on the nearby pitch of Worthing United Football Club.

He plans another visit tomorrow as Daewoo bosses in South Korea study his offer.

A sale appears imminent after Daewoo revealed that the firm's Worthing assets had been legally protected from creditors.

It is understood that Mr Walkinshaw plans to team up with French motor giant Renault for future design projects.

Mr Walkinshaw is boss of TWR, the Oxfordshire-based car design, engineering and manufacturing firm, which employs more than 1,800 people and has an annual turnover of £300 million.

Dave Fleming, spokesman for the Manufacturing, Science and Finance union, hoped Mr Walkinshaw's bid was good news for Worthing.

He said: "Our main concern is the long-term future of the workforce, which has been through a really dire period when they weren't paid on time for more than three months, and faced a massive redundancy exercise.

"Despite this, the staff have remained tremendously loyal and we want that recognised in the way a future buyer treats them."

A Daewoo spokesman refused to confirm or deny whether Mr Walkinshaw had put in a bid.

He said: "Worthing is up for sale and we are at a stage where we are negotiating with a third party for future projects, irrespective of the restructuring which is taking place in Korea.

"We have always said that if the right offer came in for the facility in Worthing and it satisfied the banks back in Korea then it could be sold off.

"But we are not at a stage to say anything along those lines. We have been in discussions with a third party but we are not naming names because there is still a lot to talk about."

In November Daewoo was declared bankrupt and went into receivership, a victim of the downturn in Far Eastern economies.

But Finbarr O'Connell, appointed by the Korean receiver to protect the Worthing operation's assets, said: "The Worthing Technical Centre is not in receivership or liquidation."

Arrows, whose main sponsor is telecoms giant Orange, recently unveiled its new three-seater Formula One car, the AX3, which allows passengers to experience the thrill of high-speed racing.

In last year's F1 championships, the team came seventh overall.