THE main sports hall and swimming pool at St Peter's Leisure Centre in Burnley are to reopen ahead of schedule.

Last month, Burnley Council was left red-faced when the facilities had to be closed less than a year after the £150million Church Street centre opened, due to "unforeseen operational problems".

When work was originally planned, the pool and hall were expected to be closed until next Wednesday, but this week they reopened for casual use.

The trainer pool and health suite, and the smaller ancillary sports hall, remain closed while repair work goes ahead.

Work is also continuing on the fitness suite, which remains open.

The main swimming pool will be open from 7.45am to 10pm until tomorrow, and 9am to 6pm on Saturday.

The main sports hall will be available 9am to 10pm until tomorrow, and 9am to 6pm Saturday.

The centre will be closed from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day.

All the centre's facilities are expected to be back in full use when the centre reopens next Wednesday.

All the repairs are being carried out under the building's warranty.

Leisure centre manager Zilpha Lang said: "We've done our best to make sure any disruption to people using the centre was kept to a minimum.

"Once again I'd like to apologise to everyone who uses the leisure centre for their patience in putting up with any inconvenience this essential work has caused."