Work has begun on a new £36m (US$55m, €42.1m) leisure centre in Huddersfield.

The new Huddersfield Leisure Centre is being built on the former site of the Spring Grove car park, in Springwood, Huddersfield.

The new facility will feature a 25-metre swimming pool, a teaching pool, two sports halls, climbing, squash and martial arts facilities, a large fitness suite, a café and a children's area.

The centre will also include a family leisure water facility, which will have a beach and water flume among several other features.

Owned by the council and managed by Kirklees Active Leisure, the centre is being built by BAM Construction and is scheduled to be open to the public by 2015. It will replace the existing Huddersfield Sports Centre, which has been sold to Tesco to part-fund the construction of the new leisure centre.

Kirklees council leader, Mehboob Kham, said: "It's a welcome boost for the local economy and building the leisure centre will help our regeneration plans, as well as supporting apprenticeships and creating job opportunities."