DROITWICH Lido is to be redeveloped as a multi-million pound hydro health complex.

The plans were disclosed by Wychavon District Council after a special private presentation last night.

The new facility will be opened throughout the year.

Proposals include an interconnected indoor and outdoor brine pool, saunas, spas, health and beauty treatments, fitness facilities, a caf and restaurant, and some bathing areas.

Designs have yet to be confirmed, but council officers hope to keep the complex within the footprint of the current park area.

However, the 1930s Lido, which was closed this summer because it faced a massive repair bill, may have to be reduced in size.

The council will join forces with a new firm, Calypso Ltd, to form a joint venture company to run the facility.

Wychavon plans to pump half-a-million pounds into the scheme and provide the lease of up to 99 years.

It is hoped the project, which will create up to 40 jobs, will be completed by mid-2003.

Council officers stressed the facility would be for all the family and would be fun.

There are believed to be no other brine facilities like this in the United Kingdom. But Calypso Ltd is currently building a similar complex in Saarbrcken, Germany.

Wychavon will now begin talking to townspeople as part of the consultation process which will begin in two to three weeks.

The building will incorporate glass and wood to blend the centre into its natural surroundings.

"Throughout negotiations the council has always made it very clear an outdoor pool must be kept and public access to it be maintained," said Councillor Martin Jennings, chairman of Wychavon's community partnership committee.

Opportunity

"This has been achieved and the proposal from Calypso provides a wonderful opportunity for the district to benefit from a state of the art unique leisure facility.

"Yesterday was the first time the council saw the plans, and in order to move the matter forward the committee recognises although much still needs to be done we now have a proposal of which we can undertake a public consultation exercise."

The Lido was the only pool in the country to use salt water.

It operated on a seasonal basis, attracting thousands of people each summer, but was not opened this year due to a mammoth repair bill.

Wychavon had said it was looking to negotiate with a private firm in order to meet the costs of renovation.

Droitwich people set up a campaign group to save the Lido after the pool was closed.