In the first tour of its kind Bob Doris, Patricia Ferguson, John Mason and Humza Yousaf were given the tour by the Glasgow 2014 acting chief executive David Grevemberg and Glasgow 2014 head of venue development and overlay Ian McKenzie.

The tour saw the group taken to the East End of the city and to the site of the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome and the National Indoor Sports Arena, both of which are currently under construction and over 50 per cent complete.

Work started on the venues in January last year, with the 4,000 capacity velodrome set to host the track cycling competition and the 5,000 seat indoor arena to stage the Commonwealth Games badminton competition.

The two will combine to form one of the biggest indoor sports facilities of its type in Europe with the 10.5 hectare site located close to football pitch Celtic Park and the Commonwealth Games Athletes' Village.

The facility will be a national training centre for athletics, basketball, netball, track cycling and volleyball, and the cross-party members of the Scottish Parliament were given the opportunity to walk around in the venues.

They were also taken by bus past Tontine House - which will become Glasgow 2014's new headquarters in October this year - and provided them with a background on the building, which will become the focal point of Organising Committee's activity in the lead up to the Games.

Following the tour - which received positive feedback from the politicians - Glasgow 2014 Government relations manager Kenny Stewart said: "We were delighted to get such an enthusiastic response.

"It's really important that we develop good working relationships with our politicians so that we can provide them with the information they need to act as advocates for the Games and answer their constituents' questions.

"The Games belong to everyone in Scotland and we want them to feel part of that.

"Hopefully events like this, run alongside Glasgow City Council - a Games Partner and owner of the venues - will help to build that feeling."

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