The British Mountaineering Council has failed in its bid to establish a national climbing centre in Manchester.

The BMC had hoped to persuade the city council to help fund a national training centre in the Eastlands area – home to the City of Manchester Stadium – which could be host to international competitions.

The BMC says England still does not have an international-standard climbing wall and the project was a bid to remedy this. The Edinburgh International Climbing Arena at Ratho does hold the status and it was hoped the Manchester indoor wall would have matched this.

A spokesperson for the Manchester-based organisation, which represents climbers, hillwalkers and mountaineers,  said: “On this occasion, the BMC was unsuccessful in its efforts to obtain the necessary support to have the project moved forward.
“The BMC is now making approaches to Sport England to explore the possibilities of funding for building a national training centre.”