York City Football Club has thrown its weight behind a young gymnast's campaign to represent his home city.

Ben Lilley, 11, of Copmanthorpe, is part of the British under-12 squad - but he has to travel more than 250 miles a week to train in Leeds because his local club disbanded in a wrangle over fees.

Now Ben and his parents are part of a growing group of gym club supporters who are campaigning to re-establish the club in York so that Ben and others like him can train locally.

They are backed by York City, whose manager, Alan Little, said the club supported any attempt to boost sporting activities in the city.

The campaign group's efforts will peak in the run up to December 9, when elections are held for the committee of the York Community and Gymnastics Foundation, which runs the York City Gym Club, off Heworth Green.

The foundation has been ordered by the Charity Commission to hold elections after several complaints were made about the way it was run.

The commission said it was concerned at reports that membership had been restricted and certain members had been expelled.

A row over fees led the York Artistic Sports Club - which Ben used to belong to when he trained at the York City Gym Club - to close last November.

Now, as the elections approach, members of the York City Gym Club are beginning to polarise into two groups: those supporting the current management committee and those who want to see a change.

Janice Lilley, Ben's mother, is one of those seeking an alternative. She said one of the problems was that York was not affiliated to the regional gymnastics authority, so promising gymnasts like her son could not compete in regional and national competitions.

Becoming affiliated to the Yorkshire Gymnastics Association is the main electoral pledge of the group backing change at the gym club. Calling itself the Millennium Committee, the group claims to have more than 200 supporters drawn from coaches, parents, professionals and gymnasts, all members at the club.

The existing committee, on the other hand, is against affiliation, on the grounds that it could affect the foundation's charitable status, and therefore its funding.

Treasurer David Nash said: "We believe that because the foundation is a recreational and educational organisation, and not an elite gymnastic organisation, it would not be advantageous to affiliate. If we were a provider of elite gymnastics, it could jeopardise our charitable status."

Mr Nash said it was not true that Ben Lilley was forced to go to Leeds for his training. His club could train at York for £6 an hour, which worked out at about 50p a student, Mr Nash claimed.

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