'Urgent' work is under way to secure the future of Melbourn Sports Centre after the owners went into administration.

The centre, which is in the grounds of Melbourn Village College, shut down unexpectedly on Friday (April 26), when the operators - Be Active Melbourn Ltd - announced they were closing with immediate effect.

A spokesman for the Cam Academy Trust, which oversees the college, said: "We are really disappointed that Be Active Melbourn Ltd have ceased trading and gone into liquidation.

"We understand this news will be equally upsetting to all other users of the sports centre facilities.

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"We are committed to exploring alternative solutions for the local sporting community."

Cllr Susan van de Ven, county councillor for Melbourn and Bassingbourn, said: "Melbourn Sports Centre is at the heart of the community and has been since its inception. 

"That it is situated at Melbourn Village College reflects exactly the ethos upon which South Cambridgeshire village colleges were founded many decades ago:  these are not just schools; but community centres for lifelong learning and wellbeing.    

"Thousands of people will remember having learned to swim in that pool, sometimes as babies or toddlers - a skill for life that can't be taken for granted. 

"Adults of all ages may have found their way to good health in the same pool. 

"The multitude of sports on offer brings children and adults together all through the week, in ways that are integral to their lives. 

"The amazing resource that is the astroturf pitch, just a few years old, would not have come into being without the initiative and collaborative spirit of the Melbourn Dynamos and local football community working alongside Melbourn Village College - a testament to what's possible by working together.

"Finding a way of bringing the sports centre back into action for the community is not a nice to have; it's essential."

All weekend bookings, including the use of the artificial football pitch and swimming pool, were cancelled, and the facilities remain closed to the public for the immediate future.

Anyone with pre-paid bookings should contact Ben Dyer at PEM on 01223 728222.