Olympics bosses may well have put a spoke in Kent's dreams of hosting the flagship 2012 mountain biking event.

Hopes were raised when cycling experts touted the county as a key player in the running for the Olympics event venue.

But Olympics bosses have now confirmed they have earmarked Essex as the number one site to host the sport in 2012.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) had initially planned to site the mountain bike venue in Swinley Forest, in Berkshire, but relocated to the Weald Country Park in Essex after the International Olympic Committee stipulated venues needed to be as close as possible to the Olympic park in east London.

However, an inspection of the park by the International Cycling Union (UCI) found the site was not suitable as it did not have enough hills and would prove too easy.

The news prompted a rush of campaigns from districts around the country to host the bike event, and experts at bike magazine Cycling Weekly this week touted Penshurst Off-Road Club, near Tonbridge, as an ideal location.

However, a spokesman for the LOCOG said Kent folk shouldn’t get their hopes up.

She said: “At the moment we are conducting some very detailed feasibility studies with Essex council.

“Essex is closer to the Olympic park – there is nowhere suitable in the South London/Kent boroughs, a Medway site would be only three quarters of the required size, and at present Penshurst is too far away.

“Siting the venue in Kent would also mean a lot of building costs for accommodation. It is not quite as straightforward as people think.”

She added: “If we can’t meet our requirements in Essex, then we will probably have to widen the net, but we are not at that stage yet.”