AN £18m new leisure centre will be built in Wantage by 2020, the man holding the purse strings has pledged.

Vale of White Horse District Council leader Matt Barber promised to splash the cash over the next four years in his latest budget.

Most of the cash, he later revealed, will have to come out of loans which he plans to repay with contributions from housing developers building in the town.

The new facility is set to be built on land next to Wantage Health Centre on Mably Way.

Health centre GPs and managers previous fought and defeated plans to build a private nursing home on that land because they said their surgeries needed room to expand to meet the needs of the growing population, but Mr Barber said he 'had not heard any concerns raised by the health centre' about this plan.

The new leisure centre, he said, would be 'modern and up-to-date' with a new swimming pool, but he said that while his leisure team were still designing the facility it was too early to say 'exactly how many tennis or badminton courts' it would have.

Conservative leader Mr Barber said the new centre would help meet the needs of the growing population in addition to the existing Wantage Leisure Centre on Portway.

But he also said his council was looking at how the Portway centre could be 'better used' by King Alfred's school next door, and that a new facility would help avoid conflict.

Liberal Democrat county and town councillor Jenny Hannaby welcomed the budget announcement, saying a new leisure centre was long overdue.

She said: "This was a project planned by the Lib Dems in 2010.

"I supported the budget to make absolutely sure we get the new Wantage and Grove centre – it's been so many years and not a sod has been turned.

"It needs to be all-singing and all-dancing: let's make it super-dooper one that will serve Wantage, Grove and the surrounding villages for years to come."

Mrs Hannaby said she would especially like to see services to help elderly people keep fit and a 'community area' that could be used by groups such as children's centres.

She also said she would like to see a skate park and a BMX bike track on the site.

Vale cabinet member for leisure Charlotte Dickson said the announcement was 'great news for everyone in Wantage, Grove and the surrounding area'.

She said: "It’s vital that as more people settle in the area we have the leisure facilities available to meet the growing demand."

The council said that 'further details' about the proposed leisure centre would be confirmed in 2017.