PLANS to a create a £25m sports village have been put on ice.

The village, which would have included gym, football, tennis and badminton facilities along with a new 25m swimming pool, would have been the centrepiece of the regeneration of the former steelworks site in Consett, but has been sidelined due to funding problems.

Work was due to start on the 40-acre village at Berry Edge in April, and Derwentside District Council hoped it would create thousands of jobs in the leisure sector for local people.

But crucial funding for the £19m first phase of the scheme failed to materialise, and with the district council facing the prospect of abolition in 2009 under local government reorganisation, the decision was taken to put the entire project on hold.

The council had earmarked £10m for the project, raised from the sale of land for housing and the transfer of its housing stock to Derwentside Homes.

The rest of the cash was due to come from sports charities and Olympic legacy funding, but the authority is still waiting to hear whether it has been successful.

Last month, at a meeting behind closed doors, councillors refused to release funds for the project.

Council leader Councillor Alex Watson said: "It is absolutely heartbreaking.

"It will be a real missed opportunity if it does not go ahead. It was part of a vision for the district and would have put Derwentside on the map."

The sports village had been discussed as a potential new home for Consett Football Club and the town's other sports clubs.

Coun Watson said the future of the scheme was also in the balance because Derwentside District Council is being abolished as part of the local government review, which looks likely to see district councils replaced with a new countywide authority in May 2009.

Coun Watson added: "Next year is our last year for setting the budget.

"The sports village can only go ahead if the new council wants it to. We would like to see some form of commitment before releasing the funds.

"It might decide it is too ambitious."

Derwentside District Council is due to meet in January to discuss the future of the sports village scheme.