TALKS are under way to try to ensure the trail-blazing WOW mobile gym stays in the North-East, it was revealed last night.

The Wellness On Wheels (WOW) gym has begun a three-year tour of Wear Valley as part of a pioneering initiative to bring exercise facilities to rural and deprived areas.

Sport England has put up the lion's share of the £1.1m funding, pouring £640,000 into the project.

But in 2008, the funding will run out.

Max Coleby, director of community services at Wear Valley District Council, the local authority which developed the WOW trailer concept, revealed that talks with other North-East authorities were under way to try to keep the futuristic trailer in the region.

"The facilities are extremely impressive. The big question is what we do with it after three years," said Mr Coleby, who was speaking at the WOW challenge presentation evening at the Civic Centre in Crook, County Durham.

"We are talking with colleagues from other authorities about how we can keep it in the North-East."

The challenge, held to mark the launch of the WOW trailer, involved 18 teams of volunteers from a wide range of organisations in the Wear Valley.

All the contestants, including eight under-16 teams and ten over-16 teams, were given 30 minutes to rack up as many miles as possible using the gym's cardiovascular exercise equipment.

Trophies were presented to the winning Auckland Youth and Community Centre team (under 16s) and the WOW Team (over 16s) by paralympic gold medal winning athlete Stephen Miller, from Ashington, Northumberland.

The trailer is in Wolsingam, Weardale, for the next nine weeks.

* WOW is backed by an alliance of organisations including Wear Valley council, Durham Dales Primary Care Trust, Sport England, The Northern Echo, Northumbrian Water and Technogym.