The cost of scaffolding at a closed swimming pool so far totals more than £10,000 - and is set to rise as a clear reopening date is yet to be announced.

The Kingfisher Leisure Centre pool, in Sudbury's Station Road, was forced to close after investigations in August showed damage to a glass panel and other roof panels. 

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request carried out by this newspaper has now revealed the cost of scaffolding both inside and outside the building has so far totalled about £12,000. 

Responding to the FOI request, a spokesperson within the data protection team at Babergh District Council, which owns the leisure centre, said these costs will rise as the closure continues and added that a "significant amount" of officer time has also been spent on the issue.

The pool has been closed since August 23 when the damage to the bespoke, specialist safety glass was found.

Other roof panels were surveyed and it became clear that some of these were starting to delaminate, so to ensure safety and avoid future disruption it was decided to extend the closure to carry out these repairs too, as well as other maintenance work.

This comes five years after a £2.3million investment to extend and modernise the building, with the original pool building being almost 40 years old. 

In the response to the FOI request, the council said: "We appreciate the disappointment and disruption caused by the closure, but it is essential these repairs are carried out.

"We cannot speculate on the predicted total cost. We remain in discussions with contractors and suppliers, and have also been engaging with consultants of varying disciplines to assess the issues and potential solutions.

"This is a significant, complex repair, and the total cost will only become clear at a later stage."

On Thursday it was revealed that an exact date for reopening is not known but December is when the maintenance work is projected to be completed.

Tracey Loynds, operations director at Abbeycroft, which runs the site, said: "Our customers have been very understanding during this time but we know that they are keen to return to swimming as soon as possible.

“We’ve temporarily moved some swimming lessons into our pool in Hadleigh and we’ve also extended the public swimming sessions at the centre.

“In the meantime, all other facilities at Kingfisher remain open and members can use any one of our other four pools as part of their membership - these are located in Hadleigh, Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket, Haverhill and Mildenhall.”