YORKSHIRE supermarket tycoon Sir Ken Morrison is to use a House of Commons meeting tonight to show he is not ready to back down in the fight for Safeway.

WM Morrison's £2.5bn takeover bid for the southern-based chain was last week dropped by Safeway after potential offers from five rivals - J Sainsbury; Tesco; Wal-Mart-owned Asda; Philip Green of Bhs and Arcadia and American venture capital group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.

But the Morrison's bid remains the only confirmed offer and Sir Ken has asked the three Bradford MPs to host a reception for the company at the House of Commons. All members have been invited.

A spokesman for Morrisons said: "Meetings like this are standard practice. It's a background briefing for the MPs."

Updated: 12:10 Monday, January 27, 2003