SPORT and leisure facilities in east Cleveland are to be given £800,000 to enable improvements to be carried out.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has begun a major maintenance programme in its five sports centres at Guisborough, Eston, Loftus, Redcar and Saltburn.

Guisborough Pool, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a free afternoon of fun on Saturday, September 27, is receiving an initial £262,000 investment at the start of a three-year improvement programme.

The work, that will lead to the pool’s closure from Monday, November 3, to Saturday, December 22, will refurbish the changing rooms, cubicles and lockers, provide new poolside surrounds, a new internal roof and modernisation of the pool’s cleansing and filtration system.

The council’s cabinet member for culture, leisure and tourism, Councillor Sheelagh Clarke, said: “We are committed to improving a range of activities and facilities for the borough, and this is another big step forward.

“We are determined to keep Guisborough pool in use and plan for the future. One of the exciting developments we want to see is a new pool for the town to be incorporated in the modernisation of Laurence Jackson School, as part of our Building Schools for the Future programme.”

At Eston, new lockers and cubicles in the swimming pool’s changing rooms are being fitted as part of a £305,000 investment, which is not involving a closure.

In addition, the squash courts are being refurbished, along with dry-side changing facilities and roof repairs in a programme that is expected to be completed by mid-November.

The second phase of the work at Eston will start in April next year, to focus on the wetside changing areas and other improvements across the centre.

At Loftus, the council is providing a new spa, with steam room, sauna, spa pool, a refurbished group fitness studio and new reception lighting, in work totalling £168,000, ready for completion by the end of next month.

Work on other required repairs at Saltburn and Redcar leisure centres is also being implemented over the next few months, with further works programmed for Saltburn next April.