A multi-million leisure centre with an 'endless ski slope' will be built by a construction firm from Gloucester.

Parkwood Leisure has appointed Speller Metcalfe, which has offices at Gloucester Business Park, as its main contractor for the new £14m Tarka Leisure Centre.

Construction on the site in Barnstaple, Devon, is set to start this summer and should be completed by 2022.

Rob Lashford, regional director for Speller Metcalfe said: "With solid experience in the leisure sector, Speller Metcalfe is delighted to be delivering our second scheme for Parkwood Leisure.

"This new site will not only be an improvement on the existing leisure centre, but provide both employment and increased visitor opportunities for Barnstaple through the unique facilities on offer."

The new centre has been designed by Watson Batty Architects, which has offices in Leeds and Loughborough, and will replace the outdated North Devon Leisure Centre on the Seven Brethren industrial estate.

Glen Hall, managing director of Worcester-based Parkwood Leisure, said: "After a successful partnership working together on the brand new facility at Broughton Astley Leisure Centre we're delighted to be working with Speller Metcalfe again at Barnstaple Leisure Centre.

"It's an exciting development and we're looking forward to see what we can achieve in providing state of the art leisure facilities for the local community."

The new facility includes a 25m, eight-lane swimming pool and 20m trainer pool, both with moveable floors that allow the pools to reach up to 1.8m in depth.

Alongside the pools, a unique feature and draw for the centre will be its interactive 'endless ski slope' - the first of its kind for Devon - accommodating skiers, snowboarders and tobogganers, which will be built in a room that runs inside to out and will be fitted out by a specialist contractor.