ERME Valley Harriers athlete Will Battershill suffered disappointment at the European Under-20 Championships in Grosseto, Italy.

Battershill was hoping to push for a medal in the final on Sunday evening, having eased through the qualification round on Friday.

He was ranked fifth going into the championships and looked in good form in the heats.

But he did not appear on the start line for the final and British Athletics later confirmed he had gone over on his ankle during the warm-up.

The injury was serious enough to require an MRI scan, but, fortunately, it revealed he had not suffered a fracture as first feared.

Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s won the 3,000m steeplechase event in a time of 8:50.00, with France’s Alexis Phelut taking second in 8:53.73 and fellow Frenchman Louis Gilavert third in 8:57.12.

Battershill, who has just completed his first year at Harvard University, has run 8:55.84 this season.