THREATS to the long-term future of Blandford Leisure Centre may have subsided after a cash injection of £150,000.

Major improvements will be made to the swimming pool area, with new showers and lockers, increased poolside seating and water features pledged.

A capital grant of £100,000 has followed the district council’s buy-in to a government free swimming scheme for the under-16s and the over-60s. Councillors have pledged £50,000 to the modern-isation project.

Cllr Steve Hitchings, the chairman of the Blandford Leisure Centre Action Group, said the new facilities would aid the council’s search for a charitable trust to run the centre.

“I think the nature of the work will show potential applicants for tenders to run the centre that they could be taking on a modern centre with new facilities,” he said.

A gamble by councillors that the initiative would attract more paying visitors has reaped dividends beyond the capital grant.

The number of customers who paid to swim increased by 18,000 last year.

“It has also raised awareness of the funding difficulties that the centre has faced over the last few years,” said Cllr Hitchings.

The cash-strapped council withdrew its annual £250,000 subsidy in April, sparking a district-wide campaign to raise funds from parish and town councils.

Dorset County Council pledged £100,000 over three years to the centre at a meeting last December – enough to stave off the threat of immediate closure.

Now the council is seeking a charitable trust to run the centre.

The arrangement – which offers tax breaks to the operating company – is already in operation at former council-run sports centres in Gillingham and Sturminster Newton.

Modernisation work starts on Monday, June 7, and will see the main pool and learner pool, changing rooms, showers and poolside toilets closed for three weeks.

Improvements include: l New lockers and cubicles.

* A revamp of the disabled toilet and shower.

* New/increased pool-side seating and reception seating * New “mushroom”, “spraying arch” and “squirting snake” water features.

* Pool-side rail from showers to main pool (allowing support for those walking to the main pool).

* Pool-side barriers from viewing area and changing rooms.

* Back changing room modernisation.

* Reception toilet modernisation.