Steph Twell to represent Scotland at Commonwealth Games

WORLD junior champion Steph Twell has ditched England in favour of Scotland - but admitted she thought twice before making the decision.

SWITCHING ALLEGIANCES: Steph Twell is set to don the Scotland vest at the Commonwealth Games

The 19-year-old - who claimed 1500m gold at the World Junior Championships last summer - was born in Colchester and lived in Germany and Northern Ireland, and is currently based at St Mary's University in Twickenham.

Twell runs for Aldershot, Farnham and District AC and represented England as a youngster but qualifies to run for Scotland thanks to her Paisley-born mum, Isobel.

The middle distance ace admitted to mulling over the decision for more than year - but insists the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow had nothing to do with it.

"It was a difficult decision to make - it has been on my mind for ages and it only really hit me that I wanted to do it last week," said Twell, who finished second at the Aviva UK Athletics Championships last weekend.

"I didn't feel pushed away at all by England - it is just that Scotland has made me so welcome. Obviously the Commonwealth Games are in coming to Glasgow but that is not the reason why I changed my country.

"I really felt welcomed by the Scottish set up and really wanted become part of it. My mum is from Paisley and I have grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins in Scotland.

"I get up for races and Scotland have some really good endurance athletes and I am very excited about what the future holds."