Frank Bruno announces closure of his boxing academy

The boxer said the academy had to close as it had failed to acquire new premises

Frank Bruno has announced his boxing academy is to close.

The Frank Bruno Boxing Academy was set up in Northampton to run alongside his charitable foundation, which supports people with mental health issues.

Writing on Facebook, the former heavyweight world champion said it was "with great sadness" the gym would be closing, but he said it needed premises of its own, which it had failed to secure.

Bruno confirmed the foundation itself would continue to run in the town.

Bruno said he and his team were very sad to have to close the facility

He wrote that "due to many factors it was decided that the boxing academy needed a premises of its own to continue successfully".

Bruno said while "a suitable building was found... that had already been run as a boxing gym", it had not been possible to acquire it.

On the Facebook post he continued: "So with great regret we now must accept that without suitable premises we can no longer carry on.

"You know the people this hurts the most are those people who needed something positive to look forward to and to get involved with. My team and I honestly did try.

"As I have said many times before if it was not for boxing I would have ended up in prison."

Bruno had previously told the BBC: "I was 12 and I got sent to a Borstal, which I'm not very proud of, for fighting too much.

"I was dyslexic, so I struggled here and there and all I wanted to do was box."