The swimming pool at Northallerton Leisure Centre will be closed to the public for six weeks while new equipment is installed.

The £350,000 new air handling unit, which circulates air throughout the building, will provide energy savings and contribute towards efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

A previous £4.7m investment from the Government to reduce carbon emissions in four centres – Stokesley, Bedale, Thirsk and Northallerton - was spent on new heat pumps, solar panels, LED lights and other infrastructure, which saw emissions drop by 57 per cent.

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for leisure, Cllr Simon Myers said: “We apologise for the inconvenience the closure of the pool will cause but it is essential we do this update on the facility.

Darlington and Stockton Times: The leisure centre at Northallerton which will see new equipment installed for its swimming pool to

“Making our leisure centres greener is an important priority for the council. As we carry out essential building upgrades, we must explore opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint to help to meet our net zero targets.”

Work at the centre started this month, but contractors need to move indoors from Saturday, June 3, when the pool will be drained. Both the pool and the sauna will be closed. They are expected to reopen on Monday, July 17.

The former Hambleton District Council was awarded the £4.7m grant from the Government as part of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme launched by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and delivered by private company, Salix.