THIRTY-six sports venues across Kent and Medway have been approved as Olympic training camps ahead of the 2012 London games.

The London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) announced it will include the facilities in a special guide to be distributed to athletes during the Beijing Games later this year.

A total of 600 UK venues will be included in the guide but Kent is understood to have more pre-games training camps available than any other county.

They include six in Canterbury, five in Medway, four in Ashford, three each in Dartford, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge and Malling, and two each in Dover, Gravesham, and Thanet.

Every facility that attracts a pre-games training camp will be eligible for a grant from LOCOG.

KCC Cabinet Member for Community Services Mike Hill said: "I am really delighted that Kent has been recognised so highly as a county able to host athletes of Olympic and Paralympic standard and congratulations to all those who were chosen.

"This opportunity will promote Kent on a global scale and bring a real boost to tourism, the local economy and result in sporting, educational and cultural exchanges."

Medway Council cabinet member for Community Services Howard Doe said: "The inclusion of five of our facilities, including our flagship sporting regeneration project Medway Park, puts us in a wonderful position to now go out and attract Olympic teams.

"The fact that we have Olympic-standard facilities in 15 different sports firmly establishes Medway's reputation as a high calibre sporting destination."