This comes after the country's best known shooter, London 2012 Olympic double trap shooting gold medallist Peter Wilson, told the Daily Express that the centre's closure would cause irreparable damage to Britain's chances of being able to compete in future Olympic Games.

The centre, located in the southern county of Dorset, closed after complaints had been made about lead pellets contaminating a neighbour's crops, and it was an issue that in the end could not be rectified.

"It's obviously disappointing to lose a facility of that stature but it wasn't a surprise and we knew it had been coming," McInnes told insidethegames.

"We still have some remarkably strong talent coming through although it is fair to say we don't have a facility that is capable of holding an event like the 2010 World Cup.

"That is something we need to address over the next couple of years.

"There are facilities in Britain that are good enough though and we are also helping to develop our shooters by making best use of overseas facilities, which played a big part in Peter winning his gold medals in London."

The Southern Counties Shooting Centre was one of the most advanced training centres in Great Britain ©Southern Counties Shooting



Wilson has also been quoted as saying that the closure of the centre was a key factor in his decision to retire, but McInnes feels his words have been taken out of context.

"I've spoken to Peter about it since and he is an open guy who is very well spoken and he wasn't saying that's the end of that," he said.

"The centre closing is not the main reason he decided to move on, he's still a young guy and he remains an inspiration to all those in the squad as he has been there and done it.

"It's always disappointing when an Olympic champion like Peter retires but we remain ambitious that we can have future success and we certainly have the talent coming through to suggest that can happen."

Wilson shot to fame by claiming double gold in front of his home crowd at London 2012 ©Getty Images



Back in 2012, the Dorset-based centre received complaints that lead pellets were landing in the field of Alastair Cooper, who bought the neighbouring estate and turned it in to an organic farm.

The centre, which has 450 automatic traps, had attempted to install temporary measures to combat the problem, including only opening five days a week and not staging any future national competitions.

Staff also started to remove the pellets from the land manually but this procedure soon stopped.

Cooper himself had previously stated on record that he did not want the centre to close.

Britain is the fifth most successful nation in Olympic shooting history, with 13 gold medals, 15 silver and 16 bronzes, although Wilson's London 2012 success followed two medal-less Games in Athens and Beijing.  

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
November 2014: Olympic shooting gold medallist Peter Wilson announces retirement
August 2012: Wilson shoots for gold and scores at London 2012