A GYMNASTICS centre of excellence is to be created in Spennymoor which should further a club's quest for Olympic gold.

The new £1.5m centre would house a warm-up area, changing rooms, office, kitchen, dining room and training area.

South Durham Gymnastics club creates a number of national champions and Olympic hopefuls every year, but until now it has had to vie for training space with other sports groups in Spennymoor's council-owned leisure centre.

Members of the club's elite squad need to spend at least 25 hours a week training, but often have to take time off school to train because there is no room for them to practice after school.

But plans are being drawn up to create a two-storey gymnastics hall at the leisure complex, which would triple the size of the club's current facilities and allow them to double the number of gymnasts.

Coach Nicola Preston said while the club can hold its own when it comes to talent, their facilities fall short when compared to the groups they are competing against.

She said: "What we have is excellent, but it's just too small. There are things the children need to be doing for competitions for which there isn't room to practice.

"The girls can never practice landing from a vault on to a hard floor, so the first time they ever do it is in competitions.

"The standard we're working at now means we're one of the top clubs in the country, but we don't have anything like their facilities."

Despite being held back by cramped facilities, the club has earned a national reputation for excellence.

Planning permission for the new centre has already been approved by Sedgefield Borough Council, who will donate £200,000 towards the development and the club hopes a substantial part of the costs will be covered by a Lottery grant.

But the final 25 per cent, or £100,000 will have to be met by the club, which is now looking for business sponsorship.

If you can help with sponsorship, contact Nicola Preston or Rachel Wright on (01388) 811877.

* Club's latest successes: Page