Meanwhile, Transport and Travel Crisis lines have been set up by the local organisers to assist incoming teams and officials.

“It is a critical situation for the Championships,” Vera Atkinson, head of media for British Gymnastics, told insidethegames.

"But if, fingers crossed, there is no further delay needed, it means the junior men’s competition at the Championships will start a day later to allow competitors and coaches more time to travel."

With the majority of flights in and out of Britain temporarily suspended, the European Union of Gymnastics (UEG) has made the decision after discussing the situation with British Gymnastics and the Local Organising Committee.

"We have made a positive and immediate response to the airport closure crisis to ensure that the 2010 European Championships can proceed without detriment to the participating countries and their gymnasts," said Paul Garber UEG vice-president on behalf of the UEG.

The situation is a bizarrely testing introduction to her new job for British Gymnastics’ new chief executive, Jane Allen, who took up her post on Tuesday.

At present, the Championships are due to finish on the original date of Sunday, May 2, as an extra morning of competition has been scheduled in on the morning of Saturday, April 24 to enable to men’s junior all around finals to be completed.

Any tickets purchased for the Championships on the days affected by the changes will be honoured and should be presented to the box office on arrival at the venue.

At the moment, none of the television commitments related to the Championships have been affected by the changes mentioned above.

•  All accommodation queries, including Media, should be directed to Barbara Stephan at [email protected]  or [email protected].

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