The starting gun has been fired on a potential bid from the North of England to host the Olympics.

Government bosses have announced a ‘strategic assessment’ to explore whether the area could use the Games during the 2040s to drive regeneration of towns and cities.

Should the report give the green light, it could pave the way for the spectacle of Lake Windermere, the River Mersey and other northern landmarks staging events for the world’s finest athletes.

An announcement of the report has been made today – although interestingly it did not include comment from Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester.

Burnham was influential to the prospect and has previously spoken of such a bid being ‘what Britain needs right now’, but is now planning a return to parliament via a by-election and an expected challenge to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Instead, the baton was passed to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. ‘London 2012 showed what the Olympics can do for our country,’ the Wigan MP said. ‘It inspired a generation through sport, attracted huge investment and showed the best of Britain to the world.

‘But while the North of England has driven so much sporting excellence, no matter the talent we produce, the sporting moments we create, and the world-class events we attract - for too long we have been told the Olympics is simply too big and too important to be hosted in the North.

‘Not any more. It’s time the Olympics came North and we showed what we can offer to the world. I couldn’t be more pleased to announce that we’re starting the firing gun on a long overdue vote of confidence in the North.’

UK Sport will carry out the review and assess cost, economic benefit and the potential of such a bid being successful.

In additional news that may interest Manchester United, the government have also announced a ‘stadium regeneration accelerator’. 

They will work with sporting bodies on development projects which ‘can help deliver local regeneration and commercial growth’. 

United are seeking government assistance on infrastructure around a planned new 100,000-capacity home and the new programme will ‘unlock opportunities for large-scale housing delivery, jobs, apprenticeships, transport improvement and community sports facilities’.