Cheltenham leisure and culture trust team picked

Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museum will also be run by the new trust

A charitable trust set up to run venues in Cheltenham including the Pittville Pump Room and Town Hall will be managed by the council's leisure department.

Cheltenham Borough Council said it had been unable to find a "sufficient pool of candidates" and its own Leisure@ team was the only one to pass muster.

The new Leisure, Culture and Tourism Trust will be operating by April 2014.

It is claimed it will be independent of the council and run by a board of 11 trustees, including two councillors.

The Prince of Wales Stadium and the Art Gallery and Museum will also be run by the trust.

'Think carefully'

A review of leisure and culture commissioning in the borough claimed that moving responsibility from the council to a trust would help save the local authority £700,000 a year by 2017-18.

A council spokesman said it was still a "very difficult financial climate".

He added that a reduction in government funding meant the council had to "think carefully" about how the services that residents have said they value can continue to be delivered while "much less money" is spent.

He said it was hoped the formation of the trust would "strengthen Cheltenham's recreational offer through art, heritage, learning and sport".