COUNCILLORS will see next week how plans for Durham's £11m baths are taking shape.

City council executive director David Marrs will give a presentation on the project to the council's cabinet next Wednesday.

The baths, on county council land next to Durham Sixth Form College, in providence Row, will replace the city's ageing swimming pool, which will be redeveloped as part of a revamp of Elvet Waterside.

Work on the baths, which will also include a fitness centre, could start next month and will be carried out by Bluestone. Council leader Fraser Reynolds said: "After two years of planning and preparation, this exciting venture is about to get under way.

"It has been designed after a very thorough public consultation to meet local needs, but also to appeal to a far wider market.

"It will be of a quality that Durham expects and it will put us very firmly on the leisure map."

Cabinet member for the environment and leisure Carol Woods said: "The main contractor will move on to the site during October and will begin construction a month later.

"We are convinced that although Bluestone plc did not submit the lowest tender, it clearly represents the best value in producing a striking building of a quality that the City of Durham wants and deserves.

"I'm particularly pleased in the flexibility of the building and the very high water quality incorporated in the design."

Proceeds from the Durham Villages Regeneration Company - a partnership between the city council and developer Keepmoat - is largely financing the project through the proceeds of housing built on council land.