Councillors are backing a regional daily columnist in a campaign to rename a sporting arena on his newspaper’s patch.

Dundee Courier writer Jim Spence has called for the city’s velodrome to be renamed in honour of cyclist Mark Stewart, who won a gold medal for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games.

Jim raised the idea with Dundee councillors following Mark’s historic win at the Games on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Dundee City Council’s Scottish National Party Group now says it hopes to bring the proposal before the authority at “an appropriate date”.

Mark stewart

Jim told the Courier the idea originally came to his wife while they were watching Stewart pedal to victory in the Games.

He said: “It would be terrific if they decided to name the velodrome after Mark, following his win.

“The work he puts into the sport and the effort and the passion was clear to see on Sunday and he is a fantastic ambassador not just for cycling, but Dundee as well.

“It is important for youngsters to be able to look up to winning athletes and by naming the velodrome after him, aspiring cyclists would be able to see a great example of what they could go on to achieve.

“There is a lot of great talent coming through the cycling clubs in Dundee at the moment and we have a history in Dundee of not recognising athletic achievement when we should have done.”