CASH-strapped civic chiefs in North Dorset are going to County Hall tomorrow, cap in hand, asking for money to keep Gillingham Leisure Centre open from April next year.

Without the £270,000 assistance, North Dorset District Council says it may be unable to keep the leisure centre going for local residents and the many children from five nearby schools who depend on it for swimming lessons.

Due to the limits of government funding and a ceiling on council tax rises, the district council says it can no longer afford to pay for many of the services that it previously provided on a discretionary basis, such as public toilets and leisure centres.

It is therefore withdrawing funding from these and looking to find alternative organisations to run them.

Gillingham Town Council has already said it cannot afford to find the £270,000 needed to keep the leisure centre open, but says it would be willing to make a smaller contribution alongside a larger one from County Hall.

Ironically, the ageing leisure centre is due to be completely replaced with a new facility via a voluntary body through the district council's local delivery programme, called the Three Rivers Partnership.

But work on the new centre is not due to start on site until 2009.

Although £4 million has been set aside for its construction, the Three Rivers Partnership says it has no interest in helping to keep the old leisure centre going until the new one is completed.

Stephen Prewett, director for children's services in Dorset, said: "If there is no alternative financial support available, the centre may have to close.

"There may also be a gap in provision if the existing centre cannot be retained beyond April 2008. This will impact heavily upon the general public but also in part, on the five schools that currently use the centre."