A multi-million pound leisure centre planned for Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, is at risk after the banks withdrew funding as a result of the economic downturn.

The project, which includes a swimming pool and a gym, is estimated to cost around £4.4m. David Chare, project director for the Cambourne Consortium, said that project will still go ahead, but may be delayed.

Chare said: “This is not a reflection on Cambourne, the consortium of developers – Taylor Wimpey and Bovis Homes - or the proposed managers of the sports centre Leisure Connection, but merely a symptom of the current difficult economic climate.

”We are now investigating a number of options which remain open to us including alternative investment streams.

”Given the number of avenues we are exploring I remain hopeful that we will be able to progress the development of, what I have always been confident will be, superb additional sporting facilities for Cambourne.”

The planned opening date of December 2009 has been pushed back to sometime in 2010.