EMERGENCY repairs to the diving pool at Poole's Dolphin leisure centre have been approved.

The £150,000 repairs were signed off by Borough of Poole (BOP) economy, culture and learning portfolio holder Cllr Mohan Iyengar.

Cllr Mohan said: "Dolphin Leisure Centre is a vibrant, successful facility that is an integral part of Poole’s sporting infrastructure.

"I want to ensure that the facilities remain available to residents of Poole whilst we try to re-provide a new leisure centre, in the longer term, as part of the regeneration of the town centre.”

Repairs are required to the reinforced concrete structures of the diving pool and tower, which have shown signs of deterioration and are currently closed for public use. Steps will now be taken to appoint a contractor and repair works will begin as soon as possible.

The main swimming pools, fitness gym and studios will all remain open whilst the work takes place.

A replacement leisure centre forms part of the proposed multi-million pounds regeneration project of Town Centre North.

The centre was built in the early 1970s and offers a gym, group exercise studio, three swimming pools and a diving pool.

It attracts nearly 340,000 visitors each year, 150,000 of which are for water-based activities.