A public leisure centre is to have a £1.6m makeover to cut carbon emissions.

Tonbridge and Malling council is spending the money on the Larkfield Leisure Centre.

It plans to add additional solar panels to the 190 already installed in 2023, improve the insulation and put in air source heat pumps to service the centre’s fitness pool. The replacement of the fitness pool boilers is expected to cut emissions by approximately 175 tonnes per year as well as reducing running costs.

Design work is under way and construction is to start in 2025.

The council will pay for the work with a £400,000 grant from the Government’s Swimming Pool Support Fund and a further £1,164,760 from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

Earlier this year, Tonbridge Swimming Pool had 180 solar panels fitted, saving an estimated 16 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

The council is also working on plans to replace the Angel Centre in Tonbridge with a new carbon-neutral facility.

The Larkfield centre will also see its changing rooms given new cubicles, toilets and flooring in a separate £150,000 scheme.

And the Tonbridge Swimming Pool is to have a £200,000 refit of its health suite.

Cllr Robin Betts, the cabinet member for climate change, said: “We’re committed to investing in our leisure facilities and in particular making sure that we are driving down carbon emissions and reducing our reliance on volatile energy markets.”