A NEW dance studio and cafe have been opened at a Hyndburn leisure centre as part of a £300,000 make-over.

The cafe at Mercer Hall, in Queen Street, Great Harwood, has been moved downstairs and is now open for business.

Regulars at the leisure centre's aerobics classes have been working out in a room at the nearby Village Inn during the time the refurbishment work was being carried out.

But from Monday, September 13, they will be able to make the most of a brand new dance studio, with mirrors and a sprung floor.

Leisure in Hyndburn, the charitable trust that runs the borough's leisure centres, is drawing up a new programme of classes for the dance studio.

The completion of the new cafe and dance studio brings to an end the second phase.

The first phase, which involved turning the main hall into a gym, was completed in July last year, and the second phase has taken about six weeks to finish.

Bronwyn Vannoortwijk, marketing manager for Leisure in Hyndburn, said: "The cafe has been moved downstairs to where the main reception used to be, which makes it much more accessible for people.

"It was really busy on its first day of opening.

"We now also have a small, mirrored dance studio with a sprung floor for our aerobics classes.

"The work has made a great improvement to the facilities available at Mercer Hall."