Gymnasts in Saltburn are missing out on vital training in a row over asbestos.

Members of Saltburn gym club cannot use their facilities at the town's sports centre, for the large mats used for practising were destroyed when a firm cleared asbestos out of the centre a couple of weeks ago.

It will cost about £18,000 to replace the mats, and the club does not have that kind of money. There is no insurance cover for equipment, only for members.

A legal wrangle has now broken out over liability for the problem.

Anxious parents also want to know how long the children were exposed to the asbestos.

At a meeting on Wednesday, the club was advised to take legal advice. Leaders met management from Tees Valley leisure, which runs the centre, and legal representatives from Redcar and Cleveland council.

But gym club spokesman Mr Clive Lee said yesterday: "No-one put their hands up for the responsibility. We were just advised to take legal advice on the best way to proceed. So that's what we will do."

The club rents out the sports hall for its training sessions.

Recently, asbestos was found in a tile which became dislodged from an area where the club stores its equipment.

The centre was closed while the asbestos was cleared.

But the mats, used to create a sprung-floor effect, were disposed of after being condemned because they could not be cleaned.

"We can't run the club properly without the mats," said Joanne Jones, who helps run the club, which has been going for more than 25 years and has members aged from five and 14. Gym sessions can attract up to 70 youngsters at a time.

For now, members are using the judo floor at the centre and have borrowed some mats from Warsett school at Brotton.

"But this will only put us on," said Mr Lee, who has been in gymnastics for 50 years and a coach in Saltburn for the last 30 years.

"It is not much good for youngsters aiming for olympic gymnastics. We might have to cut the hours we work and the numbers we can deal with.

"The youngsters are sickened by all this. The club is a big thing in their lives and they have to do a lot of training because standards in the sport are so high. Many members have serious ambitions as to how far they will go."

Mr Lee said at Wednesday's meeting, a report was produced showing the centre was now safe.

A spokesman for Redcar and Cleveland council said: "At the moment this is a question of where liability lies and this is being examined."