Kirklees Council closes Dewsbury Sports Centre after Raac concrete discovery

A leisure centre has been forced to close after the discovery of dangerous Raac concrete.

Kirklees Council and its management organisation Kirklees Active Leisure confirmed Dewsbury Sports Centre would close from Friday, 8 September, until further notice.

Both organisation said an investigation was ongoing into the presence of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (Raac) in parts of the building.

In a joint statement, the organisations said: "Following recent evidence of the potential hazard posed by Raac, the council has been surveying local buildings to assess potential risks. Council officers today identified parts of the Dewsbury Sports Centre building to be made from RAAC.

"As a precautionary measure, KAL and the council have closed the whole building while further investigations take place."

The organisations were unable to confirm when the building might reopen, saying they needed to carry out a thorough and complex survey.

A further update would be provided to KAL members and users of the centre as information emerges.

The announcement follows disruption to the start of the new academic year after the discovery of Raac – a material widely used in construction from the 1950s to the 1980s – in several schools across the country.

The concrete, which is prone to crumble over time, has been found to have a safe lifespan of only around 30 years.