THE Sports Minister embarked on a whirlwind tour of County Durham yesterday, but left a lone protestor without an opportunity to promote her cause.

Richard Caborn used his visit to see how the Sports Action Zone being run in Wear Valley was improving health facilities in the region.

But Margaret Taylor, from Coundon, missed her chance to alert him to a loss of facilities at the Spectrum Leisure Centre, in Willington, when he skipped a scheduled visit to Crook's Glenholme Leisure Centre. He was due to see the centre's ground-breaking scheme to help heart attack victims and people with heart problems get back to fitness.

But his visit to the Wear Valley District Council offices in the town over-ran and the Crook visit was ditched, leaving Margaret Taylor's impromptu one-woman protest over leisure centre cutbacks out in the cold.

Gym facilities from the Spectrum Leisure Centre at Willington have been relocated to Crook, and a loss-making ski slope closed down.