MARYPORT will get is new 25 metre, four-lane swimming pool.

Allerdale council has confirmed that the pools is part of a number of additions to the Wave Centre. Plans and design are now being drawn up prior to construction.

It was understood that a pool would be included as part of a £16 million regeneration grant from Future High Street Fund (FHS) and Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) .

It was always hoped that the swimming pool would be included but there remained some doubt that it would fit into the required brief for the grants.

In an update due to go to the public in the coming days, Allerdale has confirmed that the swimming pool is included in the plans, along with an E-bike hire and charging points.

Annalee Holliday, chairman of a committee fighting to get a pool said: "I am ecstatic."

She said there had been huge community support for the pool, recognising the need for such an asset in a coastal town.

"The only thing we don't know yet is whether it will be built at the front of the Wave or the side."

Mayor Peter Kendall has been a huge supporter of a new pool

He said it was inconceivable that a coastal town should not have a facility where children could learn to swim - and possibly save their lives in the future.

Mr Kendall could not be contacted for comment yesterday.

The closure of the town's only pool, at Netherhall School, came as a shock when head teacher David Tromans announced that, after a safety check, it was no longer safe.

He said the cost of repairs would be over £150,000 and he needed to give priority to the school boilers, neededfor heating students.

A public meeting was hastily arranged and a committee set up to look at options and raise any money needed.

Mrs Holliday, the senior Grants, Programmes and Communications Officer for the Cumbria Community Foundation, who is also a resident of Maryport, agreed to chair the meetings.

The committee's first priority was to look at funding but it soon became obvious that trying to reopen the school pool would be impractical, which is when the Wave became an option.

No completion date has been given for the pool but Mott MacDonald Consultants are now completing initial plans and designs ahead of the construction phase.