The opening of a £2.4m swimming pool in Hadleigh has been delayed after construction work was cancelled due to the coronavirus lockdown.

The final stage of work on the much-anticipated swimming facilities, which will be built on the site of the existing Hadleigh Pool & Leisure, started in March.

Good progress was made after the old pool was closed during the spring. However, the contractor and leisure provider decided to halt construction work after the country was put in lockdown.

Due to the delay, the opening of the pool, which was scheduled for the summer, has now been postponed, However, it is still hoped that the new leisure facility will be finished by Autumn.

A Babergh District Council spokeswoman said: “Ahead of Covid-19 we were making good progress on the pool ready to welcome customers later in the year.

“The virus has impacted on everyone and, as you would expect, our contractor and leisure partner made the call several weeks ago to safely pause work on the new pool to ensure they could comply with Government guidance.

“Many building and construction sites across the UK are now looking at how they can safely restart work, with our contractors also looking to ensure appropriate safety measures and necessary supply chains are in place so they can return to the Hadleigh Pool site without any unnecessary delay.

“Inevitably, any delay of this kind will have an impact on the final completion date, but we still hope the works will be finished in the summer/autumn this year.

“However, safely opening the doors to customers will obviously depend on future Government guidance in the coming weeks and months.”

The project is being funded by Babergh District Council which is working with its partner Abbeycroft Leisure to invest £2.4m, with £200,000 of funds provided by Hadleigh Town Council and a Sports England grant of £150,000.

The new development will see a new sauna, spectator seating, changing places, toilets and disabled access built alongside the 25m swimming pool.

The March closure allowed the new pool to be connected to the plant room and a link corridor between the buildings was constructed. Work on the new project originally started in September 2019.