AMBITIOUS plans to build a national academy for athletes with disabilities have been unveiled.

The multi-million pound project would bring a state-of-the-art building with international standard gym and sports halls, classrooms, fitness equipment and two outdoor five-a-side football pitches to South Cheshire.

The plans, unveiled to some of the region's community leaders at Crewe Hall yesterday, also include restaurant and conference facilities and a retirement village.

International charity Helping Hands is working with the Cheshire Academy of Integrated Sports and Arts to deliver the academy, which would give people with physical, sensory or learning disabilities the chance to take part in sport and compete at national and international competitions, including the Special Olympics and Paralympics.

The charity owns 15 acres of land off Groby Road, north of Crewe, and has set aside seven acres of it for the academy, with retirement homes proposed for the rest of the site, which would part-fund the development.

Ian Chalmers, pictured, co-ordinator of the Crewe based Cheshire Academy of Integrated Sports and Arts, said the academy would be the best facility of its kind in the country. The charity has already had considerable success at the Special Olympics.

Athletes from the Cheshire Academy had the largest haul of medals of any UK club at the 7th National Special Olympics in Glasgow in 2005.

Members collected a total of 40 gold, 26 silver and 15 bronze medals at the games, which were the largest sporting event to be held in the UK since the Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

Mr Chalmers said: "We are celebrating our 15th year this month but it has come to the stage where we have outgrown our current home in Macon Way.

"We have about 300 people a week using it but we have to turn people away because there just isn't the room. This new centre would allow us to triple the number of people we could accommodate. We've taken teams to train all over the country and the facilities and equipment they are given to use are often second rate compared to mainstream standards.

"This centre will give people a place to come where the equipment is truly state-of-the-art. There will be no other like it in Great Britain.

"It will be a fantastic resource for local people to access."

The academy would offer people with disabilities such as autism, cerebral palsy and Down's syndrome the chance to take part in 10 different sports, including athletics, boccia, football, gymnastics and table tennis. The facilities would be open to the public.

Many of the sports offered would be fully integrated, allowing individuals with and without disabilities to work together.

Planning permission for the £5 million project is expected to be submitted to Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council before Christmas.

If approved, work at the site would start almost immediately.

Crewe and Nantwich MP Edward Timpson was among those at Crewe Hall to see the plans unveiled.

He said: "This is an outstanding opportunity to create a golden standard of facility not only in this country but on the international stage."

Victoria Perez, who lives in Wistaston, is one of the users of the current academy. The 30-year-old rhythmic gymnastic wheelchair competitor said: "The new academy will be a fantastic facility for the next generation of athletes to use."