The £10m House of Sport facility being planned for Flintshire, North Wales, will not be going ahead as planned due to the current economic climate.

The original plans, as reported in Leisure Opportunities in April this year, involved demolishing the existing Deeside Leisure Centre and building a new facility.

However, as revealed in a Flintshire County Council executive group meeting yesterday morning (6 Oct), the existing leisure centre will now simply be refurbished.

The minutes for the meeting stated: "In the context of greater financial constraints throughout the economy, it became clear that such an option was unlikely to proceed as originally envisaged.

"Consequently, the focus was moved toward a refurbishment and renewal project, supported by income generation and operational savings."

The council is now looking for a development partner to work on plans for the refurbishment of the existing centre.