Coronavirus: Jobs at risk amid reopening of Sheffield leisure venues

Ponds Forge, which opened in 1991 for the World Student Game, will remain closed

Leisure facilities in Sheffield are to reopen after a four-month lockdown but hundreds of jobs are at risk.

Venues run by Sheffield City Trust will open from 25 August apart from Ponds Forge, Sheffield Arena and City Hall.

The organisation said the "financial implications" of the pandemic meant 300 jobs were under consultation for redundancy.

The trust, a non-for-profit organisation, employs more than 1,000 people.

Its chief executive Andrew Snelling said: "This is never a decision any organisation wishes to make, but it is one which we've taken to protect our long-term future."

The trust was found to be "haemorrhaging" cash last year before the pandemic hit and faced even more of a challenge as a result of temporary venue closures due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The Sheffield City Hall music venue has been closed since March

It was recently given £2.6m from Sheffield Council, which is its main funder, under emergency powers.

This followed a multimillion-pound bailout by Sheffield council last year, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The authority said it would be investing a further £15m into the trust to enable it to open its venues.

But Mr Snelling said reopening facilities carried "a significant financial risk with huge costs associated with operating facilities and venues".

Read more news from across Yorkshire

He said facilities would reopen in stages, with the first ones being Hillsborough Leisure Centre, English Institute of Sport Sheffield, Springs Leisure Centre, Concord Sports Centre, Westfield Sports Centre and iceSheffield.

Mr Snelling acknowledged there would be disappointment over the decision to keep Ponds Forge shut but said there were no plans to close it permanently.

He added: "We will continue to closely monitor the situation and look to open more facilities across our estate as soon as is practical and reasonable to do so."