Swimming pools at Waterfront Leisure Centre have reopened after being "restored to its former glory" after extensive repair works.

The pool area shut its doors back in early February after a section of ceiling pipe fell down into the centre's main pool, and whilst no one was injured, Greenwich Leisure Limited opted to bring forward essential repair works.

Greenwich Council had said at the time that they hoped the centre would be able to reopen before the school summer holidays, despite repair workers accidentally causing flooding on the streets outside whilst draining the pool.

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This was put back due to Covid-19, but now, as of Friday, August 21, the centre's swimming pools have reopened to the public.

This signals the end of Phase Two of the repair and improvement works, part of a £1.4 million investment into the centre which will allow it to remain open until a brand new town centre replacement is built in five years time.

Richard Gallagher, Partnership Manager at GLL which runs the Better Waterfront Leisure Centre, said they were "delighted" to have reopened the pools at the centre.

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"The refurbishment has restored this local icon to its former glory and added exciting new features whilst reinstating existing ones which had been out of use for a number of years.”

The mechanical works included the replacement and refurbishment of boilets, air handling units and pool filtration.

An exciting new play feature has been installed for under-5s, plus tiling replaced on the poolside, and the reception area was also given a facelift.

Further improvements were also made to the changing facilities and decoration, plus water features such as jets and fountains have been reinstated.

Cllr Adel Khaireh, Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities and Equalities said: “We were one of the first London boroughs to get our main leisure centres back open as soon as we could, and this investment means the facilities are even better than they were pre-lockdown.

"There is still one more Free Swim Friday left, so if you haven’t got back in the pool since our centres reopened, now is the time to do it.

"We’re investing in the long term too: the designs for a brand new leisure centre in Woolwich town centre are progressing well and we will be sharing these soon to get residents’ feedback.”