THE dream of building a multi-million pound swimming pool in Redcar looks likely to become a reality.

Councillors agreed that a scheme to build 250 homes and develop leisure facilities at the 35-acre Coatham Enclosure leisure site, which could attract up to £30m of private investment, should be supported.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council announced that Persimmon Homes will be the authority's partners in the project to revitalise the area and build a new pool, which it is estimated will cost £2.5m.

The news was a huge boost to Grasp (Get Redcar A Swimming Pool), which has been campaigning for a new pool since structural problems forced the closure of the old one in the 1990s.

The town's MP, Vera Baird, who often chairs Grasp meetings, said: "This news is a tribute to people power and Tees pride.

"It is the people of Redcar who have demanded this and, happily, the council has seen their determination and joined in."

Persimmon Homes would also be involved with Tees Valley Leisure, which runs the Redcar Bowl and the Mungle Jungle Children's Activity Centre. The boating lake at Coatham Enclosure would also be preserved.

Further details are expected to be announced today at a Press conference called by Persimmon Homes.

However, a spokesman for the developers said details of costs and pool sizes would not be released until a planning application had been filed.

Councillor Dave Walsh, council leader, said the news would not affect efforts in Guisborough for a new pool.

Coun Walsh said: "A feasibility study being set up in Guisborough would naturally take all things into consideration and we would look at it when that is completed.

"What we've had at Redcar is a community whose swimming pool has had to be closed. Once this is sorted out our next priority has to be Guisborough."

Keith Pudney, councillor for Guisborough, also said the fight for a new pool in the town would not be affected by the decision.

Coatham Enclosure leisure complex was developed in the 1920s and 1930s but now only the boating lake survives