Leisure projects go over budget

The Olympic Stadium is one of several major construction projects

The London 2012 Olympics and other major construction projects are being held responsible for the increased cost of two leisure projects.

South Lanarkshire Council have approved an extra £5m to redevelop a swimming pool and leisure centre after the initial tender prices shot-up.

Plans to replace Lanark Swimming Pool and refurbish Carluke Leisure Centre were due to cost about £6.7m.

The extra cash will come from the council's repairs and renewal fund.

A spokeswoman for the South Lanarkshire Council said: "The construction industry is being affected by a number of factors. This council, as with other councils, also affects the construction market due to the scale of its ongoing development programmes.

"There are a number of large scale developments taking place throughout Scotland and the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games are only two of a number of factors happening country-wide which have an influence."

In one of the projects a replacement swimming pool will be constructed at Lanark Pool. It was predicted to cost £5.3m but the most recent tender was for £9m.

Carluke leisure centre is to be refurbished and will include increased space for community leisure facilities. The initial estimate for the work was £1.4m but the most recent tender was for £2.8m.

The project teams for both developments had considered alternative design and procurement options but decided that there was no significant financial benefit for the council.