SIR CHRIS HOY has warned that it will take time for athletes representing an independent Scotland in the Olympics to match the success they have enjoyed as part of Team GB.

The six-time Olympic champion cyclist said Scots athletes would no longer be guaranteed access to UK facilities and coaching support and would have to adjust to a new training environment.

He pointed to the fact that many athletes had in the past had to move outwith Scotland to access the best facilities.

He said: "I went to Manchester, trained with the British team and benefited from that."

Of the prospects of success, he said: "The first thing you have to do if you're serious is you have to provide the facilities and the coaching infrastructure.

"In Scotland we have the Institute of Sport and SportScotland there to try and give support to the athletes. There is support but it is not quite as simple as saying 'we had x number of medalists from these Games, therefore that will translate into the same medals next time'.

"It will take time. It will weaken the British team obviously if Scotland was separate, and it would be harder for the Scottish athletes initially to establish themselves in a new training environment, with new coaches, with a different environment altogether.

"It's not to say it's impossible but it would just be a different challenge."

Sir Chris said he had decided how he would be voting in the referendum but refused to say whether he would vote yes or no.

He said he was indirectly approached by both sides but did not want to get involved in a "hornet's nest".

He said: "I've said numerous times how proud I am to be Scottish and how proud I have been to compete for Britain too, and I don't think these two things necessarily have to be mutually exclusive."

Asked if he knew what he would vote for, Sir Chris said: "I suppose I do, yeah."

A record 54 Scots were part of the British team at last year's London Olympics.

Many, such as rower Katherine Grainger, who won gold in the women's double scull, competed alongside other UK athletes in team events.

Scottish Labour's constitution spokeswoman Patricia Ferguson said: "Sir Chris Hoy's comments are another interesting and welcome contribution showing how intricately and beneficially linked all the different parts of the UK are together."

A spokesman for the pro-independence Yes Scotland campaign said: "We respect his decision not to get involved in the independence debate."

Scottish Government sport minister Shona Robison said: "Scotland already boasts excellent coaching and expertise at the Sportscotland institute of sport, which has led to distinguished results on the international stage. We are committed to a new multi-sport £25 million National Performance Centre for Sport to provide top athletes with the facilities, programmes and support that will help them build on their international reputation.

"Many top-class international athletes from all countries regularly combine training at top-class facilities in their nation with those in other countries worldwide.

"Sportscotland spends nearly £20m a year on high-performance sport, and, in the event of independence, Scotland would be entitled to a share of UK Sport's investment, which currently equates to a population share of nearly £7.5m per year, bringing the likely spend on a four-year Olympic/Paralympic cycle to well over £100m."