Image: The opening marks the final stage of a £38m investment in leisure for the area

The new £11m Rochdale Leisure Centre is now fully open following an 18-month construction period.

The opening marks the final stage of part of a wider £33.8m capital programme agreed by Rochdale Council in 2007, following the launch of Link4Life, the local cultural trust.

Facilities at the centre include an eight-lane, 25m swimming pool and a 17m learner pool with moveable floor.

The main fitness area incorporates 120 stations, including equipment supplied by Life Fitness, Trixter, Escape and Concept 2, as well as Power Plates.

There is also a smaller 'activity' gym kitted out by Life Fitness, which includes pieces from its Signature Series and Circuit Series ranges, Elevation Series Engage cardiovascular product with digital screen technology and Hammer Strength racks and benches.

A further exercise studio will host 31 Star Trac spinning bikes and Escape equipment.

A sauna and steamrooms; dance studios; and a four-court sports hall also form part of the new KKA-designed centre, which was built by Willmott Dixon.

Craig McAteer, managing director of Link4Life, said: "Our priority aim for Rochdale Leisure Centre was to provide access to a range of cultural and community activities that would help to break down the barriers to participation and encourage people to make healthier and more active lifestyle choices.

"The imaginative design solutions and equipment packages that Life Fitness presented back to us have meant we've been able to achieve those objectives and the end result is an inclusive, contemporary, high-tech facility from which the people and communities in and around Rochdale will benefit for years to come."