Plans for a new £3m swimming pool in Ripon, North Yorkshire, have been postponed by Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) due to the economic downturn.

The development was to be funded from the sale of the city's existing spa baths and through prudential borrowing, but HBC has now admitted that it is currently unable to afford the revenue costs of repaying loans. Under plans outlined in December 2007, the new complex would have included a six-lane, 25m pool and a learner pool in a bid to increase capacity compared with the existing spa baths facility.

Mike Gardner, HBC leader, said: "The cost of the new pool was always on the edge of what we could afford but we were confident in 2007 that our record of financial prudence meant that we could. "But increased costs totally out of our control, such as having to find a further £1.5m to fund the government's concessionary fare scheme this year, coupled with a drop of income from such things as land charges as home sales are dropping, has led us having to hold off for now."

Gardner also confirmed that Ripon's spa baths will remain open, with money being made available for the facility's maintenance.