The Corby gymnast captained the Great Britain team to a historic first place at the Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland, and racked up a tally of five medals.

The 18-year-old's maturity and stability over the six apparatus helped him gain a total of 89.75 to seal him the all-round title – over two marks ahead of his nearest rival.

Keatings showed just how good he is in yesterday's finals as he took gold in the pommel horse before finding his form on the parallel bars to take first place and he then jumped to the bronze in the floor exercise.

It all means Keatings and Huntingdon Olympic Gymnastics Club team-mate Louis Smith look set for selection to the Beijing Olympic Games this summer where they will fight for a place in the pommel horse final.

A delighted Keatings said: "I am way over the moon!

"Four Gold medals and my favourite had to be the pommels.

"Everyone expected me to win which brought some pressure – so I am happy I went through so well.

"I felt a big responsibility as captain to help the younger boys to settle and perform well and they really delivered the result."

Keatings' coach Paul Hall added: "This performance by the team has shown that we can fight for podium places in the London Olympics.

"Huntingdon has a new Junior European all around champion in Daniel Keatings and a squad of gymnasts that can do great things in the next four years.

"Their success is testament to their commitment and the efforts of a great team back at the club."

The Junior team beat Russia and Germany to the title while the seniors team, which included Smith, claimed a creditable ninth place – two places up from their last performance.