GYMNASTS in the borough will benefit from new equipment and training sessions thanks to a supermarket voucher scheme.

Basingstoke Gymnastics Club was presented with 2,000 Sports for Clubs and Schools vouchers by Tesco at its shop in Festival Place.

The vouchers normally have to be collected in-store by shoppers, but supermarket bosses decided to give the club a gift after it finished fourth in the European TeamGym Championships, held in the Czech Republic last month.

The senior teamgym gymnasts from the club, based at the Active Life Centre, in Houndmills, Basingstoke, missed out on a medal at the tournament by less than half a point.

Andy McColl, Tesco store manager, said: "We are delighted to be able to assist Basingstoke Gymnastics Club.

"The aim of the vouchers scheme is to enable the local community and its sports groups to flourish, and with the club currently enjoying significant success, we felt it was important to offer our support.

"We wish the Basingstoke Gymnastics Club every success in the future."

The vouchers scheme was launched in 2005 to encourage more people to participate in sport.

Clubs and schools collect vouchers, which can then be exchanged for sports equipment and training sessions.