Bradford MPs have clashed over sports provision in the area with allegations being thrown at council bosses that they are to blame.

Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe and Shipley MP Philip Davies went head to head when Mr Sutcliffe was giving evidence before the Commons Culture, Media and Sports Committee on which Mr Davies sits.

Tory MP Mr Davies said budding athletes like 13-year-old swimmer Sian Morgan, of Ilkley, who could compete in the 2012 Olympics, were being held back due to lack of facilities.

But Bradford South MP Mr Sutcliffe blamed Bradford Council's lack of sports strategy saying the council was missing out on cash through grants available to town halls if they have sports strategies in place.

Mr Sutcliffe said: "It was said someone could not get to the Olympics because there was no 50m pool in Bradford. I said to Philip he should help me encourage the council to develop this as we have been waiting seven years."

Mr Davies said: "We are saying we need to get talented young people to become champions but we do not have the means to help people. There are more 50m swimming pools in Paris than the entire UK. We have a situation where someone is very gifted but unable to train in a 50m pool or get the time that she needs in a pool with space to train in."

The clash came days after an alliance of councils across the North calculated that £77m of funding for community groups and projects would be lost from West Yorkshire, meaning if evenly split between the five local authorities, Bradford faces a potential loss of £15.4m.

An extra £675m was diverted from the National Lottery's good causes pot to pay for the 2012 Games but Mr Sutcliffe said groups in Bradford would not miss out as the Government were to repay the money after the Olympics.

He said: "The money will be ploughed in and the income from the Games will exceed the cost. We said the money would be put back as we want everywhere to benefit from the Olympics."

Head of sport and leisure services at Bradford Council, Steve Warner, said: "The summary of the district-wide strategy for physical activity and sport is on the Council's website.

"One of the key actions within the strategy is to carry out a district-wide building facilities assessment which is already well underway with the draft report expected by the end of January.

"This important piece of work will identify current and future sports facility needs across the entire district leading to a detailed facility plan to guide and inform future investment.''