BOLTON'S only town centre sports complex faces "certain closure" if plans to merge two colleges goes ahead.

Bolton Sixth Form College and Bolton Community College are considering joining forces and relocating to a purpose built campus.

But according to the board responsible for the Bolton Excel Centre, in Manchester Road, Bolton, the leisure complex would close as a result.

Bolton Community College is in the same complex as Excel. Under the plans, the college would sell its Manchester Road site and move, along with the sixth form college, elsewhere in Bolton.

Cllr Stuart Lever, who sits on the college and the leisure centre's joint management board, said: "At the meeting we were told that the Manchester Road campus would be closing within the next three years.

"If it does close, then it will be next to impossible to keep the sports centre open because the buildings are one and the same."

But college bosses have refused to comment on the future of the £2 million Excel Centre saying plans to relocate were still in the "early stages".

Plans to relocate two of the town's main colleges into a single showpiece education complex in the town centre were announced late last year.

Under the review of further education Bolton Sixth Form College and Bolton Community College could also share a number of other premises in the town - but bosses at both insist that the move is not a merger and that the colleges will retain their individual identities.

Principals of both colleges say the relocation will help to increase the number of young people continuing into further and vocational education.

The Learning Skills Council has said it would provide a grant towards a new purpose built campus. But it is also understood the Manchester Road site will be sold off to fund the scheme, leaving the future of the popular leisure and exhibition centre in doubt.

The Excel Centre was opened in 1996 through a joint venture between Bolton Council and Bolton Community College to be used as a major training centre for students on leisure management and tourism courses.

For the council, it replaced the Silverwell Street sports centre which was put up for sale in 1995.

Cllr Lever said: "The sports centre faces certain closure if the sale of the Manchester Road site goes ahead. You cannot just close the college part of the building down, and even if that was possible there will practical problems with electrics and so on.

"With the closure of the Water Place a couple of years ago, the town will be left without a leisure complex for the community."

He added: "The Excel Centre is well used not only for health and fitness but also as a community hall for local people who had the use of a hall to stage events. It would be a blow for Bolton if we were to lose this facility.

In a statement, a spokesman for Bolton Community College said: "Bolton Community College and Bolton Sixth Form College have jointly commissioned a team of independent experts to carry out a detailed feasibility report to determine whether they can move ahead with plans to relocate the to a purpose-built learning centre in the town centre. The new building will ensure they can continue to widen participation and allow equality of access to students from all backgrounds.

"As a matter of course, the Joint Management Board of the Excel Centre which is based at the Manchester Road site has been informed at every stage of the proposed implementation of the accommodation strategy and will continue to be consulted and informed of the key findings of the report as soon as they are made available."