We present optical and near-infrared images and spectra of ESO248-G10 , the host of the giant radio galaxy MRC B0319-454 .
From near-infrared colours , the active nucleus is shown to be reddened by hot dust emission or dust extinction .
Star forming regions are identified beyond a radius of 5 arcsecs ( 8.1 kpc ) where hot gas is prevalent .
The optical spectrum shows gas rotation at speeds of up to \sim 350 km s ^ { -1 } out to \geq 32 kpc along the radio axis .
A model is proposed in which the giant elliptical is triaxial with the radio axis along the short axis , and the figure rotation is around the long axis .
From the model , the angles of the principal axis are \psi = 34 ^ { \circ } , \theta = 65 ^ { \circ } , and \phi = 19 ^ { \circ } with axis ratios of B / A = 0.75 and C / A = 0.69 .
A second velocity feature from 5 to 15 arcsecs to the north-east of the nucleus is proposed to be a merging gas-rich galaxy inducing star formation while settling into an orbit about the figure rotation axis .