work has finally started on a £10 million David Lloyd tennis and fitness centre on the former Bolton Royal Infirmary site.

It is expected to open in November and membership for the private members' club will be advertised in the spring.

The centre will have seven indoor and six outdoor courts. There will also be indoor and outdoor swimming pools.

In addition, there will be badminton and squash courts, a fitness workout area and a nursery.

Planning permission was granted more than a year ago to build the complex on the site off Chorley New Road.

Tony Lord, senior development manager with David Lloyd, said: "It has been a long wait. We have had to sort out some of the design details, but it is all systems go now."

The company has around 30 centres throughout the country - others in the North-west are at Cheadle, Liverpool, Warrington and Preston.

Work has already started on the £14 million Middlebrook tennis centre, which is expected to open in the middle of next year. It will be a "pay as you play" facility and not a private club.

The news that work has begun on the David Lloyd scheme is the second major leisure boost for Bolton announced recently.

Last week, the BEN revealed that a multi-million pound entertainments complex is being planned as part of a re-vamp for The Water Place fun swim centre on Great Moor Street.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.