(Image: STUART BOULTON)
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A Darlington sports hall which has been out of action for almost four months still has no confirmed reopening date.
The sports hall at the Dolphin Centre in the town centre has been closed since June while 'essential mechanical and electrical work' is carried out.
An October reopening had previously been hoped for, but the latest expectation is that the hall won't welcome back customers until mid-November.
However, a firm date is yet to be confirmed as the council is still awaiting confirmation of when the contractor will hand the facility back.
Darlington Borough Council said the sports hall closure was necessary to allow essential work to take place and described the wider project as "large and complex".
A council spokesperson said: "The sports hall in the Dolphin Centre has been closed to accommodate essential mechanical and electrical work within the building.
"This is a large and complex project, with the sports hall due to reopen in the coming weeks."
One Darlington resident whose regular football games have been brought to a halt by the closure after more than 20 years of playing at the Dolphin Centre said: "While the lights did need replacing, it’s hard to believe something like this can take so long.
"The hall has been closed since June and we were originally told it would re-open in August, then October and now mid-November, without an actual date being confirmed."
Delays have been caused by complications surrounding the fitting of new lights in the sports hall, with issues having to be resolved before the work could progress.
For the resident and his fellow players, it has meant months without the regular football sessions which had become part of their weekly routine.
He has also raised concerns about the financial impact of the closure and the wider redevelopment of the Dolphin Centre.
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He said: "The council will have lost so much money during this time on bookings of the sports hall and with all the other delays that have been caused during various stages of the Dolphin Centre redevelopment, such as the swimming pool refurbishment which took much longer than predicted, you have to wonder if that means the overall redevelopment costs have risen as well.
"That is taxpayer money which has been lost during the redevelopment because no one has been able to book the sports hall or spend money in the restaurant.
"If the redevelopment costs have spiralled, then you have to assume that when everything is completed, the cost of doing activities like football will rise as well as the council seek to recoup money on their investment."