Leisure centre shut over gas risk to reopen

Huncote Leisure Centre was closed in November last year

A leisure centre shut after high levels of methane gas in the air were discovered is set to reopen.

Huncote Leisure Centre was forced to close in November 2021 after tests at the former landfill.

In July, Blaby District Council approved plans to reopen, with access to the site to return at 15:30 BST on Monday.

A BMX track and footpath around the back of the centre are expected to remain closed until spring 2023.

The Children and Family Wellbeing Centre - run by Leicestershire County Council - will be open to the public and delivering groups from 31 October.

The council added that initially, Huncote Leisure Centre's opening hours would be 15:30 to 21:30 from Monday to Friday, and 08:00 to 14:00 at weekends.

Terry Richardson, leader of Blaby District Council, said: "This is an important moment for the council and especially for our hard-working officers who have given so much over the last year to resolving these landfill gas issues.

"There's still a lot of work to do but we're delighted to be in a position to bring the site back to life. Residents and local businesses make use of this facility and it really is too big an asset for us to lose forever."