Members of the committee, Ahmed Belazi and Med Marwen Ghali, were impressed by the facility and now look set to sign up to stay there to prepare for London 2012.

A deal would see Tunisia become the fifth country to choose Stoke Mandeville as their training base for the 2012 Paralympic Games with Finland, Uganda, Papua New Guinea and Saudi Arabia having already signed deals to stay there.

Ian Seabrook, Business Development Manager at Stoke Mandeville Stadium said: "It was an honour to welcome the Tunisian representatives to Stoke Mandeville Stadium last week.

"Over the last 12 months Leisure Connection, who manage the facilities on behalf of national charity WheelPower, have been working closely with our partners Bucks 2012 Group and the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) to promote our region to international Olympic and Paralympic Committees as a suitable pre-2012 training camp venue.

"Our excellent facilities enable teams to train without having to travel between their hotel and the training venue which is a massive draw for many teams."

As well as top class facilities for the athletes, the legendary Stoke Mandeville Stadium is the location where the seeds of the Paralympics were sown in 1948 when Sir Ludwig Guttman organised events for World War Two veterans with spinal cord injuries who were rehabilitating at the local hospital.

The Tunisian Committee is expected to confirm Stoke Mandeville Stadium as its UK training camp early next year.

The country sent a team of 35 athletes to Beijing for the 2008 Paralympics and finished in 15th place on the medal table with 21 medals, nine of which were gold.

The star of the team was Farhat Chida, who won the 400 metres and long jump in the T38 category, taking his total of medals he has won in the Paralympics to six, three of which are gold.


Related stories
July 2010: Saudi Arabia to train at Stoke Mandeville before London 2012
May 2010: Stoke Mandeville sign third deal for overseas country to train there