Councillors have approved a £2.7 million investment in Stratford Park Leisure Centre and Lido.

The decision at Stroud District Council's full council meeting heralds the start of a five-year repair programme to improve the 1975 centre and 1936 outdoor pool, ensuring they continue to serve the community for years to come.

Initially the funding will pay for brickwork repairs, roofing, decoration, doors, flooring, air conditioning upgrades, lighting and the external toilet block at the leisure centre. It will also pay for repair of the Lido tank and replacement of the pumps and plant, which are more than 80 years old.

Year one will see £1.3 million of critical repairs and upgrades, with preventative maintenance in the coming years.

The council will also start work on a feasibility study on making large scale changes in the longer term. These changes will improve the overall experience for users, attract more visitors and increase the centre's income.

Cllr Beki Aldam, chair of the Community Services and Licensing Committee, said: "We are excited about the opportunities that a sound and necessary investment in the leisure centre and Lido will give us. We want a leisure centre and Lido that residents can be proud of and visitors flock to see.

"We want to honour the heritage of our area - with a spring-water filled outdoor swimming experience, and one of the only Grade I listed diving boards left in the country! There is so much potential."

Stroud District Council will run the Stratford Park facility directly from November this year, as it already does with The Pulse in Dursley. It will be the first time the council has run it directly since 1992.

The Lido opened in 1936 and was initially heated, until the pipework was reused for the war effort. Fed by spring water from a borehole, it is unheated and is open from the end of May for approximately 100 days a year. Currently, it runs at a loss of £110,000 over that period, but the council funds it because of its value to the community.

There are plans to use excess energy from the newly installed leisure centre air source heat pump system to increase the Lido temperature by an estimated three to five degrees Celsius.