VIDEO Sports centres across Suffolk and Essex are celebrating this morning after being selected to appear in an Olympic Games training camp guide which could attract international sports stars to the venues.

Anthony Bond

SPORTS centres across Suffolk and Essex are celebrating this morning after being selected to appear in an Olympic Games training camp guide which could attract international sports stars to the venues.

The centres were assessed according to strict sporting criteria and will feature in the London Organising Committee Pre-Games Training Camp Guide which will be published at the Beijing Games.

It will give international teams and individual athletes a selection of venues to choose from to prepare for the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In total 11 sporting venues in Suffolk have been chosen.

They are -

Alton Water Sports Centre, Stutton

Bentwaters Park, near Woodbridge

Culford School, Bury St Edmunds

West Suffolk Athletics Arena, Bury St Edmunds

Thetford Forest

Felixstowe Lawn Tennis Club

Ipswich Gymnastics Centre

Ipswich Town Football Club

Northgate Sports Centre, Ipswich

Otley College

Waveney Gymnastics Centre, Lowestoft

The following locations in north Essex have also been chosen.

Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford

Braintree Leisure Centre

Chelmsford Sports and Athletic Centre

Colchester Garrison

Colchester Leisure World

Essex County Cricket Club

Five Lakes Hotel, near Tiptree

Great Leigh's Racecourse, Chelmsford

Riverside Ice and Leisure Centre, Chelmsford

SD Martial Arts Centre, Colchester

Chelmsford Hockey Centre

Felsted School, Braintree

Unex Tower Lands, Braintree

University of Essex

Writtle College, Chelmsford

Chris Perks, Regional Director of Sport England East, said: “The Guide highlights the number of superb facilities available to communities in Suffolk and throughout the Eastern region. It is heartening to see the investment in sport made by Sport England through the National Lottery paying off. Hosting Pre-Games camps will give us the chance to showcase these and other superb facilities to teams from across the globe.”