Philip Boakes, the chairman of British Shooting, has written to every MP calling for the venue to be changed, claiming it is a waste of £25 million to build the ranges only to demolish them at the end of the Games.

 

A separate petition organised by competitive shooters has also been launched.

 

Boakes wants the venue moved to Dartford and the money - which is coming from the London organising committee LOCOG and is not public money - Invested into a shooting range that will remain after the Games.

 

In his letter to MPs, Boakes wrote: "It simply does not make sense to build the facility at a cost of £18.6 million, use it for a maximum of six weeks and then demolish it at a further cost of £4 million (both figures plus VAT) leaving the sport with nothing to show for the £25million spend.''

 

insidethegames first reported that British Shooting were unhappy withe venue in May 2006 when they tried to get it changed to Bisley, which is 45 miles away from the Olympic Park.

 

That option was rejected because London officials said it was too far away from the Olympic Village.

 

London have again said they will not change the venue.

 

Boakes said: "They retire into a shell, they want it to remain at Woolwich and the usual comment is they want it to be a compact Games because that's what the IOC have asked for.

 

"Our alternative at Dartford also allows the athletes to remain in the Olympic Village - under 45 minutes drive away - so that argument does not stand.

 

"Other sports have already had their venues moved so why not shooting?

 

"We will have nothing left for shooting after the end of the Olympics and that is the reason we are so unhappy.''

 

Boakes said British Shooting had looked at three alternative locations - Bisley and Nuthampstead were the others - before settling on a 180-acre site at Dartford currently used for clay pigeon shooting.

 

A London 2012 spokeswoman said LOCOG was in detailed discussions with the army and Greenwich Borough Council about long-term legacy uses of the shooting facilities.

 

The Metropolitan Police have also previously expressed an interest in using the site as a training centre for its officers.

 

She said: "We believe that the site could provide a long-term legacy use for the sport and we will make an announcement on the legacy plans once they have been worked though in detail.

 

"We moved the shooting venue to Woolwich in south east London during the bid phase in 2004 after clear guidance from the International Olympic Committee that it required our sporting competition venues to be more compact and closer to the Olympic Park in east London.''

 

LOCOG say the move was approved by the International Shooting Federation.

 

The spokeswoman said: "We believe that the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich is an iconic location that will provide a stunning backdrop for shooting in 2012.

 

"It will be of great benefit to both athletes and spectators to have an inner London location with easy connections to the Olympic Village.''

 

London 2012 chairman Seb Coe said it was important for as many Olympic competitors as possible to be based inside the city.

 

Coe told BBC News: "When we came out of the initial evaluation in 2004 we were quite heavily criticised for the spread of our venues.

 

"We made it clear in the bidding process that we wanted the athletes to be competitors not commuters.

 

"I was determined to make sure that we had participation which had access to young people who would probably not have seen it if it went too far out of London.

 

"And secondly I wanted the competitors to feel very much more a part of the Olympic spirit than pods some distance outside London.''

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