London withdraws interest in staging 2022 Commonwealth Games

Birmingham and Liverpool are the two remaining British cities in the running to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games after London withdrew its interest.

England was recently confirmed as one of four countries in contention to stage the event in five years' time, along with Australia, Canada and Malaysia, following the decision to strip Durban of the honour

Manchester had already pulled out of the running to host it, while London has also now done likewise to leave just two potential options.

A statement from the Mayor of London's office read: "It is great that four countries - including several UK cities - have expressed an interest in bidding to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

"While London remains focused on delivering the biggest sports event of this year - the IPC and IAAF World Athletics Championships - we wish the UK bidders every success in winning the rights to host the Games in 2022."

Britain has hosted the Games twice before since the turn of the century - 2002 in Manchester and 2014 in Glasgow.