ONE of Nottingham's brightest medal hopes is training for the 2012 Olympics in "unacceptable conditions".

Becky Downie, 17, from Hucknall, is Britain's top gymnastics all-rounder and finished an amazing 12th when she competed at the Beijing Olympics 18 months ago.

Yet the gym where she trains, at Rushcliffe Leisure Centre, has suffered from broken heating, outdated equipment and overflowing rubbish bins.

Becky's club, Notts Gymnastics Club, pay £30,000 annual rent to Rushcliffe Borough Council which is supposed to cover heating, lighting and cleaning.

But training had to be cancelled in December because the gym was unheated.

"It was too cold and dangerous," said Claire Starkey, head coach at Notts Gymnastics Club. "We've complained to the council.

"This gym was built ten years ago. It was great at the time but it needs an overhaul.

"The toilets upstairs leak on to our apparatus. Ceiling tiles need replacing. Little girls in leotards have to work in a draught from a fire exit."

Over Christmas, the gym wasn't cleaned.

"The girls had to clean the gym themselves," said Claire. "On Christmas Day, Becky and her team mates were cleaning out the gym, hoovering and wiping everything down. The bins were overflowing. I had to go and clean the toilets."

Cancelling Becky's training is massively disruptive as she prepares to compete in international competitions.

To make matters worse, the World and European championships use slightly different beams and vaults, meaning Becky's preparation for major competitions has suffered.

"She fell off a beam at the World Championships," says Claire. "At that level, angles of take-off are so precise. If you're training on a different piece of equipment, it changes everything.

"Becky is up against the best in the world. Athletes from China and Romania have a gym to themselves. She has to share one with 200 kids in temperatures below what office workers work in. We have the next generation of champions here and we're not getting the funding to support them.

The gym has been selected as a pre-Games training camp for 2012.

"It's a joke," says Claire. "If I brought my colleagues from the US and China here it would be embarrassing. There's one toilet for 150 kids. Unless the facilities are improved, we won't be producing any more Olympians."

Becky's mum, Helen Downie, said: "Becky complains about the cold a lot. It's not ideal. Your muscles need to be warm before you start training. But this is her dream and she's very determined."

Rushcliffe Leisure Centre is owned by Rushcliffe Borough Council and managed by Parkwood Leisure.

David Mitchell, head of partnerships and performance at Rushcliffe Borough Council, said: "We are aware of heating issues during cold weather and we are in the middle of implementing improvements costing over £100,000 to improve the situation. Work is planned to start on February 12.

"Rushcliffe also funds additional equipment each year and the club specifies what it wants within the limit. They would have been given a beam, if this was the equipment they had asked for."

The club, however, says it is often unable to ask for new equipment because of wear and tear on existing pieces. In addition, new equipment is damaged by the conditions in the gym.

"In addition, the council has provided an extra £15,000 over the past two years to support the Olympic ambitions of the gymnasts," added Mr Mitchell.

"The gymnastics centre is cleaned daily. The cleaning of the area is sometimes difficult, for example, the chalk used often settles despite daily cleaning.

"Over Christmas, the centre was closed on 25 and 26, opened for shorter hours on 27 and was closed on December 28. "However, as the centre was hosting the pigeon show on the 28, the leisure centre management very kindly agreed to open the centre to help the club train. There were only enough staff employed to ensure the pigeon show could run satisfactorily."

However, the club says the bins were not emptied for a week and that there was no cleaner for a fortnight.

Justin Palfrey, Parkwood Leisure's local general manager said the gym is cleaned daily except on Bank Holidays.

"The gym is an excellent facility that provides opportunities for grass roots athletes, right through to Olympic standard," he said. "At that level, there are a host of factors that affect whether athletes can achieve Olympic standard, such as the psychological make-up of the athlete and funding."