WIRRAL Council has revamped its procedures for handing out major contracts after admitting spending on refurbishing a swimming pool ran out of control.

The revamp of the Oval, in Bebington, was initially expected to cost £2.4m, but ended up costing more than £3m.

The £600,000 overspend has been reported to the authority’s ruling cabinet, which will meet this week to consider the report.

It says negotiations with the contractors had been lengthy and “protracted” but “additional costs were successfully reduced to an acceptable agreed final figure”.

The problems with the Oval refurbishment were well-publicised at the time, when five lanes were tiled into the floor of the pool and had to be ripped up to create six lanes – at an additional cost of £70,000 – to allow swimming competitions to take place.

Site work began in June, 2007, and initially the council was assured “that completion would be achieved according to the programme and within the contract sum”.

However, the report to Cabinet said: “During the latter phases of the refurbishment programme, difficulties were experienced in achieving completion of tiling to the required standard and satisfactory completion of works to the new air handling plant, both of these being delivered by sub-contractors.”

Although part of the Oval centre was opened to the public on October 16 the remodelled “Pool Hall and Changing Village” finally opened on November 24, 2008, some ten months after it had been expected to re-open .