THIS is the new £12.7million leisure centre which will boast "the best facilities in Lancashire".

The "state-of-the-art" Darwen Leisure Centre unveiled today will replace the old building in Green Street and include a "top quality" swimming pool for competitions and the public.

Blackburn with Darwen council leader Colin Rigby said the complex would be "the best in Lancashire".

He said: "It's located in Darwen, but we see it as being used by people right across the borough."

Artist's impressions have been released for the first time as council chiefs prepare to lodge a planning application for the new centre.

Demolition work on the site is expected to begin in the new year, with the new centre set to open in late 2009.

The centre's original porchway will survive the bulldozers.

It will be dismantled and rebuilt next to the White Lion pub, to act as a freestanding archway into the centre.

The centrepiece of the newly-designed centre will be the 25-metre, eight-lane competition swimming pool.

It will have a movable floor so it can be split for competitive and leisure use.

There will also be a 63-space car park, learners' pool, activity rooms, a gym and a cafe.

And the health suite, which will be larger than originally proposed, will include steam and sauna facilities, beauty treatments and a lounge area.

Building the leisure centre on a single site was a pledge of Blackburn with Darwen council's ruling coalition when it came to power in May.

It reversed the Labour party's hotly-contested plans to divide the facilities between a £9.5 million leisure centre and a £1.5 million sports hall at Darwen Vale High School.

The sports hall at Darwen Vale is still being built.

The new leisure centre will cost about £3m more than the plans proposed under Labour.

Apart from the pool's moveable floor, which will be paid for by Sport England, the cost of building the centre will come direct from council funds.

Coun Rigby insisted the extra cost would be an "easily manageable amount".

He said: "It's less than one per cent of the borough's total spend, and will be spread over the life of the building.

"If it had not been viable, it would not have happened.

"It's a very impressive building. I have looked at a lot of plans over a lot of years and to me it looks like an uncomplicated, clean layout, which is what we need to aim for.

"There was a lot of drama about the facade, and that's been incorporated as a link to what was there before.

"The sooner we crack on and get the damn thing built the better."

Coun Alan Cottam, executive member for regeneration, said the reflective glass on the sides of the building would change colour with the weather.

He said Darwen would not need a replacement leisure centre for 50 years.

Coun Michael Law-Riding, the council's executive member for leisure and culture, said: "The new state of the art centre will offer a wide range of leisure activities to residents of all ages in the borough."

The plans were first shown to Darwen Town Centre Partnership.

Trader Eileen Guy, of the partnership, said: "I thought it was a very good design, and is just what the town needs.

"It will be great to have a swimming bath in Darwen again."

But Coun Kate Hollern, the Labour group leader, said the sports hall was smaller than the one proposed by her party.

She said: "I will just be pleased when some works starts. People have been without a leisure centre for too long, but I am still concerned about the cost."

The public will have the chance to comment on the plans, which go on display in Darwen library today.

The scheme is expected to go before the planning and highways committee early next year.