A WORLD-CLASS gymnastics centre that opened this year has already proved its worth.

Deerness Leisure and Gymnastics Centre in Durham, was designated an Institute of Sport High Performance Centre in January.

The club sent 24 youngsters to Stoke-on- Trent last week for the British gymnastics championships and they came back with a clutch of medals.

Chester-le-Street teenager Chris Jones, 15, partnered 21-year-old Carl Morritt, of Ushaw Moor, to win the men's pairs section. The duo impressed the judges, despite having just come back from the Gymnastics World Cup finals in Russia, where they came fourth.

Glen Wharton, elite team coach, said: "This is the most medals we have taken at the national championships. The centre is a great facility and is already showing its worth. We have been able to get more people prepared and the results show this."

The club won the men's group finals with a team of four and also won the women's trio event in the out of age section.

Robert Tregonning, 16, and Hannah Browning, 14, both of Lanchester, won a silver in the junior mixed pairs, to add to their World and European silvers. Robert's sister, Sarah, 14, was part of the team that finished third in the junior trio section.

The building was converted to a High Performance Centre through a £375,000 National Lottery grant from Sport England, with support from Durham City Council and the Foundation for Sports and Arts.

It is considered one of the best in Europe for its gymnastics facilities, and provides a base for the local acro-gymnastics squad, which makes up half the British team due to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.