And the first people to take advantage of it were pupils from Aston Comprehensive School.

Now the centre is up and running, children from the adjacent school will be using its facilities alongside paying customers on a regular basis.

The leisure complex is the first of four such centres to be opened by Rotherham Council, eventually replacing nine existing others considered to be outdated.

Although it is now meeting with a favourable reaction from many local residents, the road to seeing the project completed has not been an easy one, with objections along the way.

Several local residents said they were worried that the roads around the centre would become choked with traffic as parents picking up and dropping off their children for school, clashed with fitness fanatics.

Others predicted the main road would become jam-packed with double car parking.

The new centre comprises two swimming pools, a four-court sports hall, a fitness suite, and a meeting room is situated on Aughton Road.