BULMERSHE Leisure Centre is set to be destroyed and replaced with a brand new facility.

Leaders of Wokingham Borough Council have voted to demolish the run-down leisure centre, which hosts a swimming pool and a sports hall, starting in May 2018.

The project, estimated to cost more than £11m, will see the centre replaced with a modern facility, including a six-lane pool, a new gym and upgraded changing facilities.

Should the project go ahead however, it's 900 gym members and 620 swimming pool members will be relocated to other sites around the borough.

Councillors will now propose that the funds be allocated to pay for the mammoth project.

Cllr Keith Baker, leader of Wokingham Borough and Woodley Town Council, said: "As long as we can secure the capital then this is very good news.

"There is a complexity in that Bulmershe College have daytime use of the pool so we would need to liaise and work with them to find alternatives while we are doing the work.

"The timing has to be such that if Carnival Pool in Wokingham gets its capital project approved we do not knock them both down at the same time.

"Existing members at the leisure centre will be offered relocation. We have Loddon Valley leisure centre in Earley so there is potential there.

"We are not going to leave anybody out in the cold."

The leisure centre in Woodlands Avenue, Woodley, opened in 1974. The building has deteriorated over a number of years, and a build of of mould has seen customers with breathing problems moved to Loddon Valley leisure centre amid concerns for their health.

A report prepared for councillors reads: "Trapped moisture has stagnated leading to mould spreading across the entire first floor. This may pose respiratory health risks to staff, members of public and to those using the long term health gym."

Councillors will propose that the funds to complete the project are allocated in the authority's next budget plan.

It was anticipated that if the project is approved, the new leisure centre would open in 2019.