A war of words has broken out after plans to reopen a much loved leisure centre as soon as possible were scuppered.

Fleet Leisure and Sports Club in Nelson Road, Northfleet, closed its doors after going into administration in April.

Fleet Leisure Ltd, which ran services at the club, owed rent and rates arrears to Gravesham council – which owns the building – as well as having a mortgage with Lloyds Bank.

The council has been fighting to reopen the well-used sports and leisure facility, which includes football pitches and tennis courts, and they thought they had cracked it – until the bank intervened.

The council claims that administrators indicated the lease would be returned to them so they could carry out an inspection and reopen the centre for football teams to use.

But that move was halted when Lloyds decided to take legal action to recover the money it was owed by Fleet Leisure Ltd and appointed its own receiver.

To ensure it gets the maximum financial return, the bank has put the lease up for auction on December 3.

This decision has caused some frustration.

Gravesham council leader Cllr John Burden said: “We were led to believe the bank would not stand in the way of putting the centre back into community use quickly.

“It is galling that a bank – which received billions of pounds of public money in the government bail-out – should take a stance which directly hits the community.

“It seems the Black Horse also has a black heart. We are now going to have to spend more public money in legal action and we have instructed our lawyers to start forfeiture proceedings to get the lease back from the bank’s administrators.”

A spokesman from Lloyds Banking Group said: “As the secured lender, we are entitled to appoint a receiver over the asset.

“We have appointed a receiver as we believe the lease does have a value.

“We have a duty to our customers and to our shareholders, which include the taxpayer, to maximise the value of the asset, rather than simply relinquishing it to the council for free.

“The receiver is now marketing the asset and is open to receiving offers from any interested purchaser, including the council.”