THE FUTURE of a £3m leisure centre is now back on track following crunch talks between contractors and New Forest civic chiefs.

However, Totton and Eling Town Council chiefs have warned the Hanger Farm project will be seriously delayed.

The Daily Echo reported last week how the project hit a crisis following the collapse of the Southampton-based Leonard Field Group.

The building firm went into voluntary administration after experiencing a cash-flow crisis.

Work on Hanger Farm immediately ground to a halt, prompting council staff to hold emergency talks with contractors.

New tennis courts and an arts complex which had been due to be unveiled next month are not now likely to be ready until October, a council spokesman said.

Plans for a paddling pool have been put on hold to speed up work on the remainder of the project, he said.

He said: "We're not going to need the paddling pool this year. The intention is to have the contractors concentrate on the arts centre and tennis courts. The administrator who took over when the company had problems went to a number of companies to see if he could do a deal.

"Unfortunately he could not. However he passed on the names to us.

"We are now planning to approach the company which offered him the lowest price to try and arrange for them to complete the contract.

"We are currently finalising negotiations on price and finishing time."

He said the negotiations on the future of the facility, to be run by Totton College, were forecast to be completed by the end of this week.