PLANS to reopen a leisure centre that closed after the discovery of deadly legionella bacteria have been pushed back by another fortnight.

Tendring Council is hoping that Walton on the Naze Lifestyles, which was closed to the public in November, will reopen in mid-February rather than the end of January.

Once the modifications are completed it will need to be followed by a series of water tests, each of which will be required to incubate for 14 days for results to be confirmed.

Only when all the test results come back negative for legionella will the facility be reopened to the public.

Council leisure boss, Lynda McWilliams, said it has taken longer than first expected and apologised to customers and thanked them for their loyalty.

She said: “The safety of our customers is – and always has been – the paramount consideration in the reopening of this site.

“The improvements have been carried out as quickly as possible but it takes as long as it takes and we must get this absolutely right.

“We really do appreciate the patience of our customers and we ask them to bear with us just a little longer. We are aiming to reopen in mid-February but it is difficult to predict an exact date right now.”

Letters will be sent to those customers who pay by direct debit to let them know that payment will not be taken for February to compensate for January.

Those who pay annually will have the time the facility remains closed added to the end of the membership period and all direct debit and annual customers can still access other council sites during the closure at no cost.