A MULTI-MILLION pound leisure centre allowed to rot for more than three years could be reopened to the public if Scout leaders and a developer get their way.

Buckmore Park, Chatham, was mothballed in 2003 following a dispute over an access road.

The sale last year by the Rochester Bridge Trust, the former owners of the 250-acre site, has so far failed to break the deadlock.

But the Medway Messenger newspaper has learned a deal to end the stalemate is on the cards with Scouts offered the chance to make an emotional return to the site they had previously used for more than 50 years.

Developer Toby Atkinson hopes to win agreement from owners Avondale Environmental Services of Fort Horsted to sell the site, leaving him free to refurbish the rundown £20 million

potential Olympic training venue.

Jonathan Shaw, MP for Chatham and Aylesford, has urged Avondale to back the plan, saying: “The situation has been exasperating and a tragic waste of a wonderful facility.”

FULL STORY IN MONDAY'S MEDWAY MESSENGER