TOM Lancashire makes his belated first appearance in the European Championships on Wednesday night after the 1,500m heats were abandoned.

The 25-year-old Bolton Harrier from Bromley Cross was due to begin his campaign in Barcelona on Tuesday.

But the heats were called off as organisers were able to accommodate the event’s 28 competitors in two semi-finals.

The semis are at 8.40pm, live on BBC2, when Lancashire will race along with fellow Great Britain athletes Andy Baddeley and Colin McCourt.

He will line up in one of the two races which will each feature 14 runners. The first four finishers in each will go through to Friday evening’s final along with the four fastest losers overall.

Lancashire says he is champing at the bit to get started after following up two confidence-boosting races in the lead-up to the championships and a successful spell of warm-weather training with the rest of the British squad in the last 12 days.

“Training has been going really well and I’m feeling strong,” he said.

“The 1,500m looks to be quite open and I’m just focused on making the final at the moment.

“Not having heats hasn’t changed anything. The semi-finals will still have the same number of runners as before and it will stil be the first four and the four fastest losers going through.

“I’ll not be looking to make a move until the middle to later stages of the race. Just getting through with as little trouble as possible is the main thing.

“I’ll be looking to have a smooth ride early on and make sure I am in the right position when I need to be.”