Under-pressure leisure centres will go under without further rescue funding on top of the £100m already pledged by the Government, district councils have warned.

The £100m was announced last month before the second lockdown and now the District Councils’ Network (DCN) has forecasted a financial hit to its members’ outsourced leisure centres of more than £320m this year.

Councils said they were concerned that many leisure providers would ‘go bust’ without more help getting to them more quickly.

The DCN has been pushing for those councils with outsourced leisure services to be prioritised in the distribution of the £100m as they have not been able to claim from the Government’s income support scheme.

Cllr Dan Humphreys, DCN lead member for enhancing quality of life, said: 'After a further period of lockdown and being unable to visit their local gym or swimming pool, it would be a devastating blow to communities to find they no longer have their local leisure centre in the months ahead.

'But the sad reality is that our leisure centres are in a crisis right now, and some may never recover without an increase in the lifeline as part of a wider package of support for district council services from the Government’s Spending Review.'

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