Nation holds Olympic base talks

London 2012 chief Lord Coe toured facilities in the North East

The South American country Colombia is to hold exclusive talks about its 2012 Olympic training camp being based in the North East of England.

Colombia has signed an agreement with Regional development agency One North East to stage discussions.

The announcement was made as Lord Coe, chairman of the London 2012 organising committee, toured some of the area's facilities on Thursday.

The Colombian team had 68 athletes at Beijing 2008.

The South Americans focused on boxing, athletics, weightlifting and swimming.

Lord Coe, speaking during a visit to the South Durham Gymnastics Centre in Spennymoor, said hosting the Colombians would help the North East get involved in the run-up to the games.

He said: "It is about coming to a community that understands sport and sport is pretty deep in the DNA of the North East of England."

The British Chamber of Commerce in Colombia, Sport England and former world champion boxer Glenn McCrory have also been involved in the negotiations.