COUNCILLORS have given the go-ahead to a multi-million pound upgrade of a sports complex.

Sunderland City Council’s cabinet backed the £2.4m investment at Houghton Sports Complex, next door to the new £21m Houghton Primary Care Centre being built by Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust.

In addition to improving the sport complex facilities, the investment will help link the two buildings into one bigger centre - similar to the popular Bunny Hill Primary Care Centre, where the City Council and Primary Care Trust already share the site.

Councillor James Blackburn, the council’s portfolio holder for attractive and inclusive city, said: "There's a strong partnership between the city council and the Primary Care Trust on addressing and tackling health inequalities.

"The Teaching Primary Care Trust is providing Sunderland with nationally significant health facilities and the flagship is this development at the Houghton Sports Complex site.

"With the City Council investing £2.4m in Houghton Sports Complex, people can look forward to an improved leisure offer.

"The investment also complements the new 25m Community Swimming Pool in Hetton."

Dr David Hambleton, director of Commissioning and Reform for NHS South of Tyne and Wear said: "We are very excited about the development of our latest Primary Care Centre in Houghton.

"Work started in January this year and the building is due to be completed by Summer 2011.

"This will be the fourth such facility in Sunderland aimed at improving access to health services and increasing choice for patients by providing care closer to home, and giving us the opportunity to commission innovative services which can then be provided in a different way."

He added: "We are delighted that, as part of the development, our partners from Sunderland City Council are upgrading the leisure centre, which will complement the new facility and further help to reduce health inequalities."