The council has confirmed what is happening with a popular soft play centre after rumours circulated it had closed permanently.

The children's facilities at Barrow Park Leisure Centre was reported to be closed last week with rumours the closure was permanent.

Locals were also concerned that the soft play centre would not be replaced due to lack of funding and that a resource for children would be permanently lost.

Westmorland and Furness Council has since stated that the children's centre is not permanently closing with Councillor Paul Griffiths confirming that it has been closed for renovations. 

There is currently no timescale for when the facilities will re-open.

A spokesperson for Westmorland and Furness Council, said: "We can confirm that the soft play area at Barrow Leisure Centre is currently closed.

"We know how popular this local facility is to our community and are working closely with our provider to do everything we can to be able to reopen it as soon as possible.

"The Sensory Room remains open to our customers and can be booked online via the app.

"We will update all our customers as soon as we have a date for reopening."

The sensory room saw a £10,000 refurbishment of the sensory room in August of last year.

This was funded by local Rotary Clubs, with Rotary Club of Furness initiating the appeal and members from the Rotary Club of Barrow in Furness and the Rotary Club of Furness Peninsula joining forces.

Previously, the room was closed four months ago due to obsolete or irreparable equipment, prompting a fundraising campaign to revive it.

New equipment included interactive projection tools that project soothing light, colours, and images onto the walls and floor.

Sensory bubble tubes and tables, interactive toys and storybooks, and comprehensive guides on how to utilise everything were also purchased.