A PLANNED refurbishment of the changing rooms at Newent Leisure Centre has been delayed by up to a year because of an internal re-organisation of the Sports Lottery system.

The Lottery has informed the Forest of Dean District Council that it will not accept any new bids until January 2004 at the earliest.

The news means that changing room facilities, described as "open and antiquated" by Newent Town Council, must remain unchanged at least until next summer.

It is the second Lottery setback to hit the project. In early spring, a £200,000 Lottery bid was refused and project organisers downsized plans by £50,000 in the hope of putting a new Lottery bid in place by the summer.

Alan Grove, leisure services officer for the Forest of Dean District Council, hoped at the time that the funding would be in place "around September".

Now the council has been told that the embargo on Sports Lottery bids will extend further, into the New Year.

Mr Grove said: "We're disappointed but if we can get an application in work could begin in early summer next year."

Even so, he put the level of delay, compared to initial plans, in the region of nine months to a year.

The council plans to further downsize its Lottery bid, to £100,000, thanks to revised costings and a simplification of plans.

Mr Grove said: "Quality will not be compromised."

The aim has always been to enlarge and enhance the swimming pool changing rooms and other changing areas in the complex, at the Newent Community School site off Watery Lane.

Improvements would be likely to include updated disabled facilities and modern shower cubicles.

Extra funding could possibly come from other sources, including Gloucestershire County Council, the Forest of Dean District Council and Newent Town Council, as well as the Newent Initiative.