WORK on a long-awaited swimming pool and leisure centre has taken a major step forward.

Engineers arrived on site at the £4.5m development in Stanley last Friday to fill the two new pools with water for the first time as part of a series of stringent safety tests.

Steve Howell, head of leisure services at Derwentside District Council, said: "This is going to be one of the biggest centres in the region. It will be second to none."

The town's 30-year-old Burns Pool was demolished in 1997 due to structural faults. Work started on the new building, next to the Louisa Centre, last November.

The end product will be a six-lane, 25m competition pool, with 300 seats for spectators. At 2.8m deep, it is hoped it will attract aquatic sports such as scuba diving. It will be the first pool in Derwentside to be at deck level, which means the water is exactly the same height as the pool edge - meaning cleaner water. Next door is a 18m by 17m training pool with a mobile floor that can be raised or lowered to suit users of all abilities.

"It means we can raise the floor, bring in people in wheelchairs and then lower it to wherever they need it to be," said Mr Howell.

The new, bigger fitness suite will be on two storeys with a weights room attached, equipped with the latest machines. The ground floor will feature a 'cardio-theatre' for aerobics, complete with giant plasma TV screens.

The development was dogged with difficulties. It took the district council more than five years, including three failed multi-million pound Lottery bids, to get the project started. Funding for the centre comes from a £3m National Lottery Sport England grant, with a further £1.6m raised by the council.