Reconstruction of a multi-million pound leisure centre has begun.

Demolition of Splashes leisure centre in Bloors Lane, Rainham, began last year to start the process of redeveloping the facility.

The project is due to cost just under £24 million, almost five times the initial estimated cost of refurbishing the existing centre, which had originally been planned.

The council decided this could not go ahead after structural surveys revealed there were major faults with the building, which were deemed beyond repair.

The centre opened in 1990 but did not reopen following the first Covid lockdown.

The council welcomed councillors and visitors to witness the ground breaking ceremony at the site neighbouring Cozenton Park this morning (Tuesday, March 21).

Adam Worrall, the director of construction company Willmott Dixon Ltd which is building the new centre, said students from Waterfront UTC and The Howard School will be completing work experience on site, and two local college students will be working on the project throughout.

The council's deputy leader, Cllr Howard Doe (Con), said: "I think it's something that we've worked on for so long.

"People in Medway will have a different type of facility to the one they have at Medway Park, and one that is very much better than its predecessor.

The new centre - which is due to open in summer next year - will have two swimming pools, a children’s fun pool with a flume, wave ball pool and beach area, and a training pool for lane swimming and lessons, as well as a fitness gym and room for exercise classes and children’s parties.

Cllr Doe added: "We will be providing up-to-the-minute facilities and we will have things like electric charging points for electric vehicles, so it really will be a facility to be proud of."

Speaking about the challenges the project has faced so far, he added how he felt the war in Ukraine was affecting labour, adding: "We have also had a tremendous boost in the price of materials and indeed shortage of materials so we've had to advance buy.

"It's very difficult with prices moving so fast, and the easy option is just pack up, go home, and don't do it.

"We didn't take that easy option, what we decided we would do is grasp the nettle and get a really good facility built here so that in 20 year's time, when the actual mess of the financing was just a memory, we will still have this here.

"We will have a really great facility for what we call, 'child friendly Medway' and this is one of the reasons."

Last week, the chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced the government is going to give £63 million to council -run leisure centres with swimming pools.

The fund is due to help local authorities contending with rising energy costs and maintenance expenses.

The swimming pools at Medway Park in Gillingham were forced to close for three days in January because they were too cold.

Cllr Doe said the new fund was something the council is looking into but didn't say how or where the money could be spent, saying he felt the impact of rising energy bills had peaked.

He said: "When there's pressure, you've got to react and I think it's very easy just to close stuff down and we have to find new ways of doing things, which we always do and I assure you this pool will never close."

During a council meeting in November, opposition Labour councillors lost a motion calling for a full assessment of the options the council had in order to find the additional borrowing required to see the project out.

They were joined by some Conservative councillors who raised concern about whether council services would have to be cut in order to fund the redevelopment.