The Board of London 2012 are due to meet tomorrow with the issue of where to host the shooting top of the agenda.

 

There is little support within the sport for it to be held at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich because they believe it does not offer them any legacy.

 

They have been lobbying hard for it to be included at the National Shooting Centre (NSC) at Bisley in Surrey, which was the original location for the sport but was changed during London's bid on the advice of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to make it more compact.

 

But London officials have been forced to have another look because of concerns over cost.

 

They have been told by the IOC, whose ruling Executive Board meets in Denver next week, that they must make a final decision by the end of this month.

 

Barking has now committed £2 million if they are chosen to stage it and promised that all remedial and re-instatement work will be undertaken without cost to the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).

 

Rob Whiteman, the chief executive of Barking and Dagenham Council, said: "We were asked to work up a business case by the ODA, and feel we have produced a bid that is in tune with the times.

 

"It offers the prospect of substantial savings, and a lasting legacy for the Borough.

 

"Barking Riverside is a pivotal development area in the Thames Gateway, the largest regeneration project in Europe.

 

"The area has been synonymous with sport, since the days of Sir Alf Ramsey and Bobby Moore.

 

"Everything is in place, and we are ready to respond."

 

But British Shooting remain committed to Bisley, which they claim will cost only £32 million and leave the sport with a long-lasting legacy, and do not support Barking's bid.

 

Phil Boakes, the chairman of British Shooting, has been lobbying hard for the sport to be moved to Bisley since Lodnon were awarded the Olympics in July 2005.

 

He said: "It's because their case isn't good enough to absolutely shut us up.

 

"We are an itch they cannot scratch because we've got too good a case."

 

British Shooting argues that Bisley, which is near a college that could house the expected 500 shooters, is a better choice in terms of accommodation since Woolwich is a working army barracks and hundreds of soldiers and their families live there. 

 

Upgrading Bisley to Olympic standard would involve expanding on to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which are conservation areas protected under British law.

 

English Nature, responsible for SSSIs in England, said it was waiting for details of the development's exact location before commenting but Boakes said the matter was a "red herring" because Bisley's current range contains an SSSI site.

 

Hugh Robertson (pictured), the Conservatives spokesman on the Olympics, backs Bisley's case.

 

He told insidethegames: "There is a considerable groundswell of opinion amongst the shooting and defence fraternities that Bisley should be confirmed as the London 2012 shooting venue.

 

"This is compounded by the fact that shooting had its funding cut as a result of the Government failing to deliver the £600 millionfor elite sport promised by [then Chancellor] Gordon Brown in his 2006 budget.

 

"I hope that the Olympic Board will look sympathetically at Bisley during their meeting tomorrow.

 

"It would be wrong if political hostility to shooting or organisational inflexibility denied Bisley a fair hearing."

 

But London 2012 officials are determined to keep the shooting at Woolwich.

 

A source told insidethegames: "There is no real desire for it to be moved.

 

"I would be very surprised if that happened."