Plans to develop a £22 million National Badminton Arena in Milton Keynes have been scrapped.

Following an extensive consideration of the viability of the development, the Board of Directors of Badminton England decided not to pursue the project.

The proposals involved building a 3,000 seat 17-court Arena at the National Bowl site.

In a statement, Badminton England said: "Following further extensive consideration of the viability of the proposed National Badminton Arena development, at its meeting on 29 July 2015, the Board of Directors of Badminton England regretfully took the decision not to pursue a move to the National Bowl.

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"Fundamental to the project though was not just the affordability of the capital programme but ensuring the ongoing viability of the facility. The funding gap that became apparent was exacerbated by the upturn in the construction industry which led to a significant widening of the gap.

"Having forensically explored numerous options to close the gap, it became clear that each of them would have posed a major concern to the ongoing viability of the facility and more importantly placed the financial sustainability of Badminton England at considerable risk.

"As much as we wanted this project to work, the responsibility to protect the financial health of Badminton England has overridden the opportunities that we saw this project delivering."

(LM)