BOLTON'S star athlete Stuart Stokes will represent Great Britain in the European Cup.

The 25-year-old earned his place with a dominant victory over all Britain's top 3,000m steeplechasers in Wythenshaw on Monday night.

The decision is yet to be confirmed but it would be the biggest surprise in British athletics if the Bradshaw man, who is far and away the top steeplechaser in the country, was to miss out.

It will mark another high point in what is anticipated to be a memorable season for Stokes whose immediate focus is on the Commonwealth Games and is also looking forward to the European Championships.

He again ran inside the Commonwealth Games qualifying time - by three seconds - at Wythenshawe where he beat the next best Brit by a healthy eight seconds.

The win will earn him the place in the British team for the Spar European Cup where Britain will take on the 10 top European nations over two days in France.

The popular annual event features just one athlete from each nation in each event and is the only event of the year where international athletes compete as a team.

It takes place on June 22 and 23, a week after the Commonwealth Games qualifiers where former Bolton Harrier Stuart, who lives in Bradshaw, is the red hot favourite to confirm his place in the England team.

At Wythenshawe he sent a warning to his closest rivals that he will take some beating this season.

He said: "It was a good race for me.

"All the best British runners were in the race I won it by quite a way. Fingers crossed I'll be picked for the European Cup team. You never know but I honestly can't see it not happening.

"I'd love to be there because it's a bit special in that it is a team event. Athletics is quite a selfish sport in that you usually compete for yourself but in the European Cup you compete as a team and you fight to finish as high up the field as possible because every point is important."

"The time was inside the Commonwealth Games qualifying time but, to be honest, I went out purely to win the race rather that to get a good time. I wanted to show the rest of the field that I was confident and running well and I think I did.

"I also felt good and pretty relaxed all the way which gives me a lot of confidence going into the trials.

"Now it's off to Belgium for a bit of speed work in a 1,500m race and then it's the trials in Manchester which should be a massive event because 30,000 tickets have already been sold for it."