Clothing specialists Joe Bloggs has unveiled plans to sponsor 12 British skateboarders in a bid to produce a crop of extreme sports champions from the country. It has agreed a partnership with the online skating networking website Ministry of Sk8, which will see the 12 highest-ranked youngsters on the site receive sponsorship.

Joe Bloggs’ PR and marketing director Bushra Ahmed said of the novel deal: “"Joe Bloggs Clothing has always been influenced by street sports, and street fashion such as boys hoodies. Sports such as skating are right up our street so this sponsorship is the perfect match for us. We hope that our involvement is going to inspire young skateboarders and allow them to perform to the best of their ability. Hopefully, young skaters can take their skills to the next level.

"We sponsored Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton when he was just a young boy, and look at him now. We hope that this sponsorship will help us to find the skating stars of the future too."

Scott Forshaw from Ministry of Sk8 added that he believed having Joe Bloggs as a supporter “will help us encourage more young boys and girls to take up skateboarding.”