A £5.7m swimming pool and fitness suite was formally opened yesterday.

The pool at the Louisa Centre, in Front Street, Stanley, which opened to the public in August, was launched by Derwentside Council leader Councillor Alex Watson and executive member for leisure Coun Ann Taylor.

Competition Line and Derwentside District Council put more than £2m towards the project and applied to the Sports Lottery Fund for additional cash help - securing an award of £3.5m in September 2001.

Work started a few months later, but the project was delayed by contractual problems and progress was slow, with the pool opening behind schedule in August.

The pool hall has a six-lane 25-metre pool with a 12-metre training tank with floating floor. The centre also features a fitness suite kitted out by Competition Line and an aerobic studio with sprung floor.

It also has a junior gym as part of a partnership project with Derwentside Primary Care Trust, with the aim of tackling obesity and improving fitness levels among teenagers in Derwentside.

The opening ceremony included a display by synchronised swimmers and entertainment from a jazz quartet.

A cheque of £15,000 was presented by Carl Gripenstedt, of Competition Line, to the charity DebRA, which helps people with a rare skin condition. The cheque was received by Edna Kennedy, mother of Jonny Kennedy, 36, from Newcastle, who was the star of Channel 4 documentary The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off.

At the opening, further funds were raised for DebRA, the Dystrophic EpiDermolysis Bullosa Research Association.