Dangerous concrete confirmed in part of the Sands Centre in Carlisle

Events planned in the auditorium will be cancelled until further notice. Credit: ITV

Part of the region's biggest leisure venue will have to close after a review discovered it had Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete, otherwise known as Raac.

Cumberland Council conducted a building review at the the Sands Centre in Carlisle and RAAC was found in the auditorium of the events centre.

Events there will be cancelled until further notice. The rest of the Sands Centre - the swimming pool, gym, sports halls, café, bars and restaurant will remain open

Cumberland Council leader Councillor Mark Fryer said: "Following the government’s recent change in guidance on the use of Raac in the construction of school buildings, we have proactively reviewed our public buildings. Raac is present in the auditorium of the events centre at The Sands, Carlisle.

“Although the new main Sands Centre building is unaffected, which includes the pools, gym, sports halls, café, bars and restaurant, the council has taken the decision to close the stand-alone events centre so that further assessments can be made of the older part of the building.

“The 1980s part of the building did not form part of the recent redevelopment work, operates separately from the redeveloped site and is self-contained.

“The events centre building has been inspected on a regular basis in accordance with government guidelines and was compliant until the recent change in government guidance, in late August.

“Improvement works for the older part of The Sands Centre building were part of phase two of the redevelopment and work was already underway to progress these works. This work will now be accelerated.

“The decision to temporarily close the events space is a precautionary step and does not impact on the day to day running of the main leisure centre.

“Events planned for the auditorium will unfortunately be cancelled until further notice.

“This is not a decision that Cumberland Council has taken lightly, and we apologise to anyone who has been impacted.

“Further updates will be provided in due course.”

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