A ’MAJOR boiler failure’ at the weekend closed facilities at Ivybridge leisure centre.

A lack of hot water and subsequent leak put the centre’s showers, swimming pool and squash courts out of action, with staff and contractors working through the night to try and fix the issues.

But as of Tuesday they remained ’closed until further notice’, with operator Tone Leisure forced to cancel swimming classes and apologise to the centre’s customers. Other facilities remained open as usual.

Problems began on Friday, when the centre posted on its Facebook page that poolside showers and those in the changing rooms were running cold. Then over the weekend, further problems with the boiler meant the swimming pool had to be closed, and a leak caused damage to part of the building.

And after hoping to fix the problem on Monday evening, and despite workmen spending the night on site, a solution had still not been found by Tuesday morning.

Tone’s leisure facilities manager for the South Hams contract Justine Foster explained: ’We had a problem with the boiler in the building, it was not able to hold its temperature so we had no hot water in the taps, and none for the swimming pool.

’We also had hot water escape into the storage tank, which caused expansion and overflowing, leading to a leak in a corridor. We’ve had contractors and staff working on site overnight and we had hoped to get it fixed last night [MONDAY NIGHT], but unfortunately there are still problems.

’We’re hopeful we’ll be able to offer some kind of service later today [TUESDAY].

’We can only apologise to our customers.’

Commenting on Facebook, centre manager Adam Clasper described ’a major failure’ in the plant room, and added his sincere apologies for the inconvenience.

Tone Leisure also confirmed that the problems were unrelated to the heavy rain experienced at the weekend.

For information on when the centre reopens, keep an eye on its Facebook page, its website www.toneleisure.co.uk/ivybridge-leisure-centre , or call 01752 896999.