A £650,000 revamp of Stourbridge’s Crystal Leisure Centre will begin before the end of the year, it has been promised.

Users of the Dudley Council-run centre in Bell Street were told at the start of the year the outdated health and fitness suite would get a new look. But a start date for the revamp had not been announced.

But Phil Parker, council spokesman, today said details of the plans were now being finalised and it was hoped work would begin on site before the end of the year.

The health and fitness suite will be extended and take over what is currently Sparky’s Playden and offices on the first floor.

Dudley Council is set to plough £1.2 million into improving its leisure centres in a bid to draw customers away from private gyms.

The Great Cornbow facility in Halesowen will be the first of three borough leisure centres to get a revamp.

Membership of the town’s leisure centre has swelled from 200 to 700 in the last year following a £500,000 scheme to introduce gym facilities at the site. Now another £250,000 is set to be invested at the Halesowen centre to pay for further improvements.

As well as Crystal Leisure Centre’s £650,000, Dudley Leisure Centre will get £300,000.