An £8.5m leisure centre has opened its doors to the public in Birmingham.

The Ladywood Leisure Centre will be operated by Birmingham Community Leisure Trust (BCLT) and its managing agent Serco Leisure on behalf of owner Birmingham City Council (BCC).

It is the last of four new leisure centres – in Erdington, Northfield and Stechford – funded by BCC and Sport England as part of a 15-year BCLT contract signed in 2015.

The Ladywood site houses a health club with a 130-station gym floor and group exercise studios; a 25m, eight-lane swimming pool with spectator area; wet areas with sauna and steamroom; and café.

The centre will cater for a wide range of group fitness classes, ranging from holistic sessions such as yoga and aqua classes in the pool to Les Mills disciplines and HIIT. There is also a varied programme of sessions and classes for children, including dance and gymnastics.

Building work on the centre was carried out by construction firm ISG.

Brian Taylor, BCLT chair said: “We are incredibly proud to be opening this fantastic facility, which we are confident will become a hub of activity for the residents of Ladywood and surrounding areas.

"Our team has worked incredibly hard with our construction partners ISG to make our vision for the centre a reality.

“This new facility has already created over 50 new jobs, and our recruitment team has done great work engaging with the local community, successfully securing positions for long-term unemployed people in the area.”

Established in 2015, BCLT – working with Serco – now operates nine leisure sites on behalf of BCC.