DG One centre repairs closure to last five years

A flagship leisure centre in southern Scotland is scheduled to reopen five years after it shut for repairs.

Remedial work on the DG One site in Dumfries will cost £19.3m - more than its original £17m building cost.

The building shut in October 2014 in the hope that repairs could be completed within 18 months.

However, a delay in starting due to a legal wrangle and the emergence of previously undiscovered problems mean it should now reopen in October 2019.

The council-run facility opened in 2008 but a string of structural problems led to its complete closure in 2014.

The local authority agreed a compensation package with the original contractor, Keir, to cover what was estimated at the time as a £10m repairs programme.

The cost of bringing the building back into use has now risen to nearly double that amount.

A report to councillors has outlined a new timeline for the completion of the repair work.

It is hoped that phase can be finished in August next year ahead of a "grand opening" in October.