Maintenance work has started at Ipswich's Broomhill Pool in a bid to ensure the site is ready if and when a restoration bid for Levelling-Up funds is successful.

Temporary fencing has gone up around the entrance to the lido in Sherrington Road and further fencing can be seen inside the pool complex around the shallow play pool.

However despite hopes of some that this heralded the start of the main work at the pool. a spokesman for Ipswich Borough Council said this was only basic maintenance that would ensure the security of the site and allow work to get on promptly if the funding bid was successful.

What should have been the first phase of the redevelopment actually started in early 2020 when trees near the site were cut back before the breeding season to allow the main work to start later in the year.

However the imposition of lockdowns, and financial problems facing development partner Fusion Lifestyle during the Covid crisis forced the planned redevelopment to be shelved.

The increasing cost of the project means that there is now a significant shortfall and the borough and its Fusion partner needs to rely on further support through the levelling-up fund to kick-start it.

At the start of August, the council announced it had made an £18m bid towards enabling a new Gainsborough sports, Gymnastics and Athletics Centre and the reopening of Broomhill Lido.

A spokesman for the borough said the current work should allow work to start sooner if the project got the green light.

They said: "The council is carrying out some maintenance work on this Grade Two listed structure (vegetation clearance, graffiti removal and fence repairs) in agreement with the tenant, Fusion. Such works are important to protect the site from any further deterioration.

"The council and Fusion remain hopeful that the bid to the Government’s Levelling Up Fund is successful and enables the Lido to be brought back into use."

They are hoping to hear the result of the application in the autumn - and if positive work could start on bringing the pool back into use next year. The pool welcomed its last swimmers in 2002 - experts said it was unsafe to open it for the 2003 season.