AN OXFORD swimming pool complex is to be closed and demolished to make way for a multi-million pound complex on the edge of the city, councillors confirmed last night.

The controversial decision to close Temple Cowley Pools was taken by Oxford City Council despite last ditch attempts to save it.

The council's executive board backed an option that will see the pools, in Temple Road, demolished after a new £16.8m facility is built adjacent to Blackbird Leys Leisure Centre.

The existing site will be sold off, for an estimated £1.5m, to part-finance the project, that will include a main pool and a teaching pool.

Other options that had been considered were to rebuild or refurbish the existing facility, both costing £24m.

The figures, provided by council officers, are based on the total cost to the council over 25 years.

Council deputy leader Ed Turner said: "This offers lots for families and leisure swimmers, those who would not be active in the debate but are important.”

The future of Cowley pool has been in doubt for nearly a decade and the maintenance backlog grew to more than £2m.

Councillors had argued the building was inefficient, ageing and too expensive to run, and a purpose-built facility in Blackbird Leys would save cash by sharing facilities with the estate's existing leisure centre.

But the authority has also admitted it needed the cash from selling the Temple Cowley site to make any new project viable.

And closing the pool for refurbishment or a rebuild on the present site could land the council with a £1m compensation bill from its leisure provider Fusion for loss of income.

Under the plan approved last night Temple Cowley Pools will remain open until the new facility is up and running - expected to be autumn 2012.

Opponents to the plans mounted a vocal campaign to save the much loved pool and collected more than 9,000 signatures to keep it open.

The campaign argued many users would be unable to get to Blackbird Leys and drew up its own £3m "eco-refurbishment" plans in an attempt to change the council's mind.

Campaign leader Jane Alexander said: "Why destroy what you already have and what people really want. If we lose the land we can never get it back. What we have we should treasure.”

Council leisure officers will tender for the work immediately, but the availability of funding will only be known after the Government's spending review this autumn.

In August Mr Turner said the authority would have to "take a deep breath" and find the cash.

The move has also been backed by the City Of Oxford Swimming Club, which said it needs a venue capable of holding regional galas.

Blackbird Leys Pool, which is only open for limited times, will also close as part of the plan.