The City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) has approved plans for an extension of the car park at the Royal Commonwealth Pool, which is currently undergoing a £37.1m refurbishment.

Councillors agreed to finance the alteration to the project through the Prudential Borrowing Scheme, with the local authority recouping the cost from operator Edinburgh Leisure.

The move was triggered after it was revealed that there would be a 21 per cent reduction in available car parking spaces at the revamped facility, which is due to reopen next spring.

A report put before CEC's finance and resources committee said: "The layouts of the existing car parks are being changed to accommodate larger spaces for parent and child and disabled parking, which will reduce the total number of customer parking spaces.

"This reduction in spaces had not been planned, so, although sufficient land to build compensatory parking spaces is available to the rear of the building, the cost of this cannot be contained within the project budget."

When complete, the new-look Royal Commonwealth pool will boast an upgraded 50m pool that can be divided into two 25m pools and a 25m teaching pool with moveable floor.

A 25m diving pool with moveable floor; a dry-land training area for divers; a larger gym with three fitness studios; and a changing village will also be on offer.