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Competitors and officials have been reacting to the news that Brentwood has lost the chance to host the 2012 Olympic Games Mountain Biking event.

Inspectors from the International Cycling Federation visited Weald Country Park last week and have told organisers that the site isn't 'challenging enough'.

The Conservative Leader of Brentwood Borough Council, Brandon Lewis, was disappointed with the news:

Mr Lewis said, "We saw this as a real opportunity to show the world what this country can do through the delivery of Brentwood with a beautiful park at Weald Park that we think would have offered a very challenging, exciting and interesting course for people."

Another to react to the decision was eighteen year-old mountain biker, Shaun Hurrell, from Boreham. Shaun is currently taking part in a Olympic Development Programme and could well have been competing at the venue in the 2012 games.

He admitted that, although the news is disappointing, the UCI's decision is not a great surprise: "Initially, I was very shocked and couldn't believe they were going to hold it in Brentwood, which is obviously very flat and not much in the way of technical riding.

"However, once they'd chosen it I backed it all the way. Brentwood Council was really up for it and they were going to make a very good course out of it, from what I've seen," added Shaun.

The Essex County Councillor responsible for the 2012 Olympic Games, Stephen Castle admitted the news was 'frustrating', but said the county will still support the games as much as it can.

He said, "We're very keen to ensure that we get the maximum sporting, cultural and business benefits into the county, so we'll certainly continue with those."

Mr Castle added, "I will continue to work very hard to see if we can find an alternative event for Brentwood, because I've been really impressed by the way that the community of Brentwood have supported the games and wanted to engage in it,"