He urged towns and cities to be "entrepreneurial" and "go out there" and persuade elite sporting nations to set up pre-Olympic training camps.

 

Before he was appointed to his current role in the Cabinet, Burnham flew at his own expense to Kyiv to try to persuade the Ukrainian team to base itself in his constituency of Leigh.

He warned that the scramble to sign up nations was well underway, with Birmingham, Cardiff and Bristol already having signed up major teams.

 

But Burnham said that cities and regions in Europe are also trying to attract teams to base themselves there before London.

 

He said: "There are lots of countries coming but some may choose to go to France as their training camp, just as Team GB used Macau before the Beijing Olympics.

 

"It's a competitive environment and countries will choose to go wherever they want.

 

"Countries are there to be persuaded but you have got to go out there and persuade them.

 

"It's not going to fall in your lap.

 

"I travelled to Ukraine as a backbench MP to make the case for Leigh.

 

"And if other people want countries to use their facilities they need to get out there and make the case."

 

In an effort to try to give British cities an egde in persuading teams to train here, London 2012 are offering National Olympic Committees funding of up to £25,000 to base themselves in the UK.