The fate of a town's closure-hit leisure centre has finally been revealed after months of uncertainty.

Tenterden Leisure Centre is set to remain open under a new operator following a lengthy stand-off between its trust and Ashford Borough Council (ABC).

The council announced today that Freedom Leisure will run the centre from May 1, taking over from current operator Serco.

Freedom Leisure – which also runs the Stour Centre and Julie Rose Stadium in Ashford – will remain in charge for a two year "interim" period before a long-term operator is found.

It comes weeks after Tenterden Leisure Trust (TLT) confirmed it would hand back control of the building after months of clashing with ABC over the continued closure of the centre's swimming pool.

The council had previously said it was "extremely disappointed and concerned" by the situation, which kicked off just three months after a near-year-long closure finally ended.

Following what centre manager Jordan Garland described as "one of the most challenging periods in the history [of the centre]", the relaunch in September saw a completely renewed roof installed alongside a refreshed interior at the cost of almost £2 million.

However, the swimming pool was forced to close once again at the beginning of December after debris fell from the roof.

Its continued closure means it has only been open in three of the last 18 months – with ABC insting safety inspections were carried out and the pool was safe to reopen, but TLT and Serco – the operators of the centre – seeking further reassurances there was no danger to customer safety following continued issues with the roof.

In February, ABC served notice it will be cutting funding to the trust and Serco, which served notice to cease its contract with the trust to operate the centre.

Today, a council spokesman said it expects an opening date for the swimming pool to be announced "shortly" once lifeguards are recruited and trained.

"Ashford Borough Council would like to thank Tenterden Leisure Trust, Serco and Freedom Leisure for helping us with this transition," he added.

There will be two periods of brief closure in the meantime – between 8am and 4pm on Wednesday, April 26 for electrical work, and 12pm on Sunday April 30 to 8am on Monday May 1 for a handover between the two operators.

Jo Fox, the council’s assistant director of environment, property and recreation, said: “We know how vital leisure facilities are at Tenterden Leisure Centre for our residents’ health and wellbeing and know there has been frustration that not all the facilities have been available.

“The council has invested significant money into improving the facilities on offer, now and in the future, showing our long-term commitment to providing leisure facilities for residents of Tenterden and the surrounding area.

“Ashford Borough Council wants to see the full set of facilities at Tenterden Leisure Centre re-open as soon as possible, including the swimming pool, and we will provide further updates over the coming weeks

Freedom Leisure chief executive Ivan Horsfall Turner said: “We are delighted to be managing this well-loved facility in Tenterden on behalf of Ashford Borough Council.

"Together with the existing leisure centre team, we will fulfil our promise to ‘improve lives through leisure’ in Tenterden as we have at the nearby facilities in Ashford.”