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There are growing fears that Clifton Hill Sports Centre in Exeter will close permanently.

The leisure centre has remained shut since March due to storm damage, which caused a serious leak in the roof, with customers instead having to use facilities at Pyramids, Riverside, Exeter Arena and Wonford sports centre.

Now, there are concerns that the sports centre will remain closed, and a petition has been launched to ‘Save Clifton Hill Sports Centre’ which has reached more than 340 signatures.

The petition says it wants to ‘ensure that Clifton Hill Sports Centre a vital community hub for the South West's most 'active' city reopens fully and is run well with minimum delay.’

Former councillor and Exeter city centre manager John Harvey says he has been told that plans to permanently close Clifton Hill Sports Centre are under consideration.

He told Devon Live: “We have heard from officials at the civic centre who have advised that the closure is under consideration.

“We have always said that the St Sidwell's Point centre will have an impact on facilities which are of importance to local communities across the city.

“We have been told that this is more of a consideration than a rumour, and I have no reason to doubt that.”

With the Riverside Leisure Centre also closed, Harvey called the lack of facilities in the city an ‘unmitigated disaster.’

“People aren’t stupid,” he said. “We warned about this in 2015 when I was first elected as a councillor. I said the impact of the white elephant swimming pool will be devastating on the city.

“It’s an unmitigated disaster. The council are having to spend money on the Pyramids because they have been so incompetent in managing the leisure complex proposal.

“The public I believe are starting to wake up to the risks.”

Phil Bialyk, Exeter City Council's Portfolio Holder for Health, Fitness and Wellbeing, admitted investigations are continuing into the closure of Clifton Hill, and is awaiting the results of a report as to the future of the leisure centre.

“We were told that it was closed by Legacy Leisure on the basis that the roof had a lot of snow damage. They had to close the facility because it was dangerous and we are having it investigated.

“We will receive a report as to what either needs to be done. I haven’t had any preliminary advice or spoken to anybody. All I know is the officers that are dealing with it are working on a report.

“People are going to have conjecture speculation, but I am waiting to see the report, and then the appropriate council committee will deal with it.”

In a statement from Legacy Leisure which operates Clifton Hill Sports Centre on behalf of Exeter City Council said: "Clifton Hill Sports Centre will remain closed in the coming weeks as a result of damage to the flooring of both the main sports hall and gym caused by a serious roof leak.

“We are continuing to work closely with Exeter City Council and a further update will be provided at the beginning of May.

“We would like to thank our customers for their support and understanding. Members and other Clifton Hill users can continue to use the facilities at other sites we operate in the city, including Pyramids and Riverside leisure centres, Exeter Arena and Wonford sports centre. Our team is working hard to accommodate them and we are running an additional 30 group fitness classes at Riverside.

“If you require any further information please call Riverside Leisure Centre on 01392 221771."