DARWEN'S new leisure centre has finally been approved by councillors after months of wrangling.

The £12.7 million centre, which will include a 25-metre competition pool, learners' pool, gym, sauna and cafe, will replace the former building in Green Street, where demolition work started in January.

The new plans include a movable floor, which can be split for competitive and leisure use, and will be paid for by Sport England.

The rest of the cost will be met by council funds.

Blackburn with Darwen planning and highways committee approved the scheme, reversing the original Labour plans for facilities split between a £9.5 million leisure centre and a £1.5 million sports hall at the new Darwen Vale High School.

The school's sports hall will still be built, and the new plans also allow for the preservation of the old hall's historic porch, which will be dismantled and rebuilt next to the pub as a freestanding archway into the centre.

Councillors agreed to request that the leisure centre management meets with the managers of the adjoining health centre to set up a joint policy for the car park.