Market Harborough: Leisure centre gets £500k for solar scheme

Solar panels will help cut the centre's energy bills by £68,000 annually, the council says

Hundreds of thousands of pounds are to be spent on solar panels to help power a leisure centre in a Leicestershire town.

Council bosses have been awarded a £535,773 grant by Sport England to cut the carbon footprint of the Harborough Leisure Centre in Market Harborough.

The money will fund the installation of 768 panels on the roof of the Northampton Road complex.

Energy efficient LED lighting will also be fitted throughout the building.

Harborough District Council said the work would drive down the cost of running the facility by £68,000 a year and cut its carbon emissions by 62.3 tonnes annually.

Deputy council leader Simon Galton said: "The grant funding will complement the planned refurbishment work at Harborough Leisure Centre and further support the council's ongoing commitment to fighting climate emergency by reducing emissions, switching to renewable energy, and delivering significant long-term financial and energy savings."

The council said the grant would supplement a £5.9m investment into its leisure centres at Lutterworth and Market Harborough, announced in December.