SHAFTESBURY Leisure Centre will remain closed until further notice while extensive work is carried out to modify the pipework for the water system.

When contractors started the scheduled repair and replacement work of pipes last month, they had originally hoped to have had the work done during December.

However during checks, they discovered that more work needed to be done than had been estimated.

Council officials then hoped to have had the centre open for the start of 2008, but that timescale has now been pushed back.

They took the decision not to re-open the centre until the entire system has been fully checked and relevant work completed, and as yet they do not know when that will happen.

Shaftesbury Leisure Centre is owned by Dorset County Council but managed and operated by North Dorset District Council.

An NDDC spokesman said the work included replacing pipes supplying water through showers, lavatories and taps. Shaftesbury School and Sports College, located in Salisbury Road, updated their pipes for the school but the pipes for the centre, on the same site, were not done at the same time.

The spokesman said it was right and proper that the work at the leisure centre, which has a gym and squash courts but no swimming pool, went ahead to ensure the facility is fit for the future.

The centre will cease to be funded by NDDC in March 2009, as part of a series of cutbacks to balance their budget.

At that time the responsibility for the centre will pass to Dorset County Council.