A long-waited revamp of Folkestone Sports Centre has been halted as Shepway council does not have the money to pay its share.

While the decision has yet to be made officially – protocol dictates that it will go before cabinet on October 22 – officers are recommending the council refuses to pay an extra £114,000 a year on top of its usual grant of £186,000.

This extra money would have been paid for 10 years, until the loan taken out by the Sports Cente Trust was paid off.

The council had previously backed the scheme, seen by many in the civic centre as good value for money, but the credit crunch and the impact it might have on the rest of the funding put the kibosh on it.

The £4.5m scheme was to be paid for by selling the old fitness centre to a developer, but the council feared that should that deal fall through because of the crunch, the council would be left holding the bill.

Cllr Carole Waters, cabinet member for sport, told the Express: “It was a very good scheme but it was also reliant on thrid party buying the land and developing it.

“We could then be asked to pay even more money if the other party did not go ahead.

“ I have been working with them for 18 months on this, it’s very sad and we are all so gutted.

“We had two options – we could have put up Council Tax by 39 per cent, as the Liberals did, or we could look at borrowing, which we probably not be able to.

“So where do we get the money from? We have to look at our priorities.”

Staff at the sports centre were upset by the decision. The plans would see the fitness centre moving in to the building, with a new golf centre and an upgrade of the facilities, including the changing rooms.

It was hoped that increased revenue, particularly from the fitness centre, would have helped pay for the scheme and also reduce the Trust’s dependence on Shepway’s grants.

Sports centre manager Tessa Stickler said: “We are all reeling a little bit. It is an understandable decision – it’s devastating but understandable. Having got over the shock I don’t believe all is lost.

“We have a buyer [for the fitness building] and we are due to exchange contracts.

“We can still bring the fitness centre into the building. We can do it in small chunks over the next few years. I still think we will be able to achieve something. They are still very supportive of the project.”

And Cllr Waters added: “The main thing is we are not walking away. Together we can do something , we can start to work with them on this and we will support them in principle until we can do more.”