Colburn Town Council last night agreed to help keep Colburn Leisure Centre open in the short-term at least.
More than 100 people attended a public meeting at Colburn Village Hall to discuss the future of the facility.
Among those attending were staff and managers from the leisure centre, which is run by Richmondshire Leisure Trust.
Last month, the trust announced it wanted to hand back the keys to the centre at the end of November because it could not afford huge increases in energy costs.
The trust said its annual energy and water bills for the building were set to rise from £15,000 a year to £72,000 annually.
After a discussion in which members of the audience were allowed to ask questions, the town council agreed it would pay £7,000 a month towards the centre’s energy costs until the end of the year.
The council will use the next two months to look at ways of keeping the centre open, including looking at launching a new community organisation to take over the running from 2023 onwards.
Richmondshire Leisure Trust’s board will meet next week to discuss the council’s offer of support.
