BRITISH athletes could win fewer medals at the London 2012 Olympics following the Chancellor’s budget proposals, according to shadow Conservative sports minister and Kent MP Hugh Robertson.

Mr Robertson, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, gave a cautious welcome to Mr Brown’s announcement of £600million boost for the Olympics but said the Chancellor had not been as generous as it appeared.

He said: "Of the £600million he announced, £300million is already known about so it is the classic trick of making a re-announcement of old money.

"The remainder does correspond to the £50million a year that UK Sport and the British Olympic Association wanted but £100million will have to come from the private sector and it is hard to see how that will happen."

If the money was not raised, Britain would have to downgrade its aspirations to be fourth in the medal table to fifth or sixth, he said.

Mr Brown’s budget promised £200million for training facilities to be matched by £100million from private sponsors and £300million from the lottery.

In addition, there will be £34million for new national sports facilities and public private partnerships to renovate nationwide sports facilities.

Meanwhile, the county's wine producers toasted the Budget announcement that there was to be a duty freeze on all British produced wine and champagne.

Julian Barnes, owner of Biddenden Vineyard, which produces around 40,000 bottles of wine a year and between 300,000 and 400,000 litres of cider, said it was a boost for what had become a thriving local enterprise.

He said: "The industry has been lobbying for that for some time. If we are to be left alone and not pay additional duty, that can only be good news.

"We are producing ever better wine and English wines have never been in a better position to move forward."

But while a freeze was welcome, it would not help close the gap with their French counterparts, he added.

Kent Labour MP Jonathan Shaw said raising the point at which house buyers paid stamp duty would help first-time buyers currently priced out of the market.

"The main thing is that there should be houses for people to buy. There is a supply and demand issue which has to be considered, as well as stable interest rates," he said.