The European Curling Federation (ECF) has announced that the 2009 European Curling Championships are to be held in Aberdeen.

The 2009 championship will be the last major international curling competition before the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010.

The event will be hosted at two venues – the dedicated new Curl Aberdeen facility, which was built last year, and the Linx Ice Arena.

Malcolm Richardson, president of the ECF, said: "The executive is pleased to announce that the 2009 European Curling Championship has been awarded to Aberdeen in Scotland."

"We are delighted to have the European Championships back in the home of curling," said Colin Grahamslaw, chief executive of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club, the sport’s governing body in Scotland.

"Curling in Aberdeen is enjoying a major boom thanks to the opening of the new Curl Aberdeen facility. This announcement will give us a tremendous opportunity to continue that boost over the coming years," Grahamslaw added.

The Scottish men are current world champions, having beaten Canada in the final of the World Championships in April.