BLACKBIRD Leys’s new pool is set to make a splash as the 18-month construction project comes to an end.

It has been filled with 813,000 litres of water and will open in the new year.

As well as the eight-lane, 25-metre competition-standard swimming pool, there will be a teaching pool, a fun water area with jets and sprays, new changing facilities and a sauna.

Oxford City Council has spent £9.23m on the pool, housed in an extension to the existing Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre in Pegasus Road.

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The newly expanded centre is being renamed Leys Pools and Leisure Centre. Meanwhile, Fusion Lifestyle – which manages the city’s leisure centres on behalf of the council – has spent more than £250,000 on extending and modernising the gym and sports hall.

Renovations will be finished by Christmas, ready for the centre to open in the new year.

City council board member for leisure Mike Rowley said: “ It's brilliant to see the new competition pool filling up with water and the finishing touches being put on all the great new leisure facilities at Blackbird Leys.

“In the new year we'll have a world-class integrated wet and dry leisure centre in the heart of Blackbird Leys, offering all Oxford’s people a fantastic affordable public leisure hub that will be financially and environmentally sustainable into the long-term future.

“Many thanks to leisure users and local residents for bearing with us through this major project.”

The centre’s general manager David Hunt added: “It is very rewarding to see the new centre taking shape on schedule.

“The new studio and creche at the centre have been well received and the soft play area is already proving very popular with local families.

“The sports hall improvements will be completed by the end of the month as will the new studio.

“When the new competition pool, fun pool and sauna are completed and added to the existing facilities, Leys Pools and Leisure Centre will offer a top-quality leisure complex for the whole of Oxford.”

Last month, the council confirmed that 10 bids have been received for the Temple Cowley Pools building, which the new Leys pool will replace.

The site has been put up for sale and earmarked for housing because the council said the facility was no longer fit for purpose.

Campaign group Save Temple Cowley Pools is hoping to lease the building from the council and continue to run it as a swimming pool.

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