Work on Kirkby Leisure Centre’s car park is progressing and visitors can now access the facility by a newly-finished footpath.

The new car park on Hodgkinson Road will have spaces for 89 cars, including disabled parking and six electric charging points. It will also accommodate greener transport methods with ten 10 hoops and lockable cycle storage. The car park should be finished by June.

The old Festival Hall was demolished in February 2023 and the material from the demolition have been crushed to form a recycled aggregate that has been used in the construction of the new car park.

The £15.5m centre has welcomed more than 207,000 visitors through the doors since opening in August 2022.

Robert Docherty, executive director of Place, said: “Kirkby Leisure Centre is now a modern landmark in Kirkby and has been welcomed by residents and users of the centre. It is fantastic to see the final phase of the project nearing completion. We know how invaluable the larger accessible car park will be for centre visitors and we look forward to it being fully operational in the coming months.”