Decision to close two leisure centres delayed by council

Demonstrators have staged protests at Gateshead Civic Centre, warning closures would be a mistake

A public consultation over plans to close two leisure centres is being reopened, a council has said.

Gateshead Leisure Centre and Birtley Swimming Centre could be shut after the local authority said some facilities were unaffordable due to budget cuts.

More than 7,000 people responded to the proposal and campaigners last month called for extra time.

A decision was due on 24 January but Gateshead Council's cabinet is now expected to reach a conclusion in June.

Opponents previously said "huge public interest" meant the decision should be put to a vote at the authority's annual budget-setting meting on 23 February.

Gateshead Leisure Centre, in Saltwell, faces the axe as the council says some facilities are unaffordable

The consultation will reopen on Tuesday and run until 8 May.

The Labour-run council's leader Martin Gannon also pledged further consultation with users of Birtley Swimming Centre in particular.

It had not initially been earmarked for closure and only discovered it was under threat a few weeks ago.

The council has had its annual budget cut by £179m since 2010 and faces a £20m budget gap next year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'Funding from reserves'

Mr Gannon also hinted that the closure of leisure centres could be further delayed if a community asset transfer was close to completion, but warned that such delays would not go on indefinitely.

"This has to have an end stop. We cannot keep on funding these services from reserves because it will have a consequence elsewhere," he said.

The council said it cost up to £900,000 to keep the centres open for this extension period, having planned to shut the two at-risk centres on 31 March.