A MUCH-LOVED octopus water slide is to be demolished this week after almost 20 years in a Wear Valley leisure centre.

Slippery Sid has been perched in the corner of Woodhouse Close Leisure Complex, in Bishop Auckland, since 1989, and its image became synoymous with the centre.

Over the years, thousands of youngsters have enjoyed sliding down its long green arms and into the swimming pool.

But times have changed and Sid has been standing unused for the past few years.

This week, the slide will be removed as part of improvement works to the leisure centre.

The venue, run by Wear Valley District Council, is currently embroiled in an asbestos scandal, an inquiry into which is due to begin in the Civic Centre, Crook, today, at 6pm.

But that is not the reason for the makeover.

David Kingston, chairman of the council's community services committee, said the slide has been standing idle for some time. "It simply doesn't deliver what it used to deliver - an exciting experience for youngsters,"

he said.

Sid has been in place for 18 years. Most octopuses have a maximum life expectancy of five years, while some live for only a few months.