Work has begun on a new £4.2m swimming pool in Rugeley, Staffordshire.

The new site will replace the old Rugeley Leisure Centre site, which has been cleared. The concrete from the bottom of the pool has been kept, broken up and will soon be apart of the foundations to the new building.

The 25m pool will have six lanes, while work on the site will also include a new fitness suite.

Councillor Mick Grocott said: “We are pleased to see the foundations being laid for what will be an outstanding new facility, serving not just Rugeley but also the surrounding town and villages.”

It is expected that the building will be finished in March 2008 and the opening of the centre will bring to an end a two-year wait for a public swimming pool in the area after the town's old swimming pool in Hagley Park closed in 2005.

Grocott said: “Having been without a swimming pool for so long, I am sure everyone will agree that this is an exciting time for people living in the area.”