EFFORTS are under way to resurrect ambitious plans to build an Olympic-sized swimming pool in Canterbury in time for the 2012 games, it has emerged.

County council chiefs have re-opened talks about the idea with the University of Kent (UKC), Canterbury City Council and Sport England.

The scheme was thought to have been sunk last year when the project was effectively shelved and discussions by a working party were brought to an end.

Now Kent County Council has confirmed it is trying to kick-start the process again.

Cllr Mike Hill, KCC's cabinet member for communities, said: "We are still working with UKC but also the city council and Sport England, which is now making more encouraging noises than it was. The scheme is not dead in the water at all."

The demand for a 10-lane pool at the university's campus has never been questioned, but the project was thought to have come unstuck because no one was prepared to invest the £25million needed.

But Cllr Hill said Sport England, which promotes and invests in sporting facilities, had signalled it would welcome a 50-metre pool in Kent. Previously, it had said such a pool was not among plans it would support.

The news has been welcomed by Herne Bay MP Roger Gale, a strong supporter of the scheme.

He said: "It is absurd that a county the size of Kent is unable to provide a facility like this."