Stoke-on-Trent's largest leisure centre could be replaced with a brand new facility in the city centre.

Fenton Manor first opened on its current location in 1976, but officials say it is now coming towards the end of its expected lifespan.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is now looking at potentially building a replacement leisure facility as part of the Etruscan Square development in Hanley – an idea that has been branded 'totally bonkers' by an MP. Labour council leaders have already scrapped proposals for an indoor arena, which they inherited from the previous Conservative administration.

According to a council report, officials from the regeneration and leisure services departments have been discussing the idea of building a replacement for Fenton Manor at Etruscan Square, along with the development of 'a fully flexible 1,500-2,000 seat events venue'.

Both these ideas are now set to be explored further with a new private sector development partner for Etruscan Square – due to be appointed before the end of the year.

The council is looking at building a replacement leisure facility as part of the Etruscan Square development (Pete Stonier).

But the report says that 'additional public funding will be necessary to ensure their viability and delivery'. Earlier this year council leaders warned that they could be forced to close down all the authority's leisure facilities without extra government support.

A spokesperson for the city council said: "With the removal of the arena, originally part of the site masterplan, the city council is considering a range of longer-term options for the wider site including leisure and entertainment uses. Fenton Manor is coming towards the end of its expected life and will need either major refurbishment or replacement in due course."

Fenton Manor's facilities include a 33 metre swimming pool and a separate teaching pool, along with two multi-sport arenas, two gyms, a dance studio and a squash court. It hosts a wide range of events such as boxing matches, dance competitions, wheelchair rugby and dog shows.

Stoke-on-Trent South Conservative MP Jack Brereton does not believe the leisure centre should be moved from the Fenton Manor site.

MP Jack Brereton said moving the leisure centre to Hanley would be 'totally bonkers' (LDRS).

He said: "It would be a totally bonkers plan to close what is a perfectly good sports facility to just move it to the Etruscan Square site. This shows the total lack of ambition which the Labour-led council have for our city.

"They have scrapped our plans which would have helped transform the city and are now fumbling around to find an alternative use for what should be a key regeneration site for the city centre."

After taking power last year, the council's Labour leaders announced they would be drawing up fresh plans for Etruscan Square, and dismissed the existing proposals as too expensive and unrealistic.

While Etruscan Square has been allocated £20 million from the government's Levelling Up Fund, council chiefs say that the overall cost of developing the site and others within the regeneration portfolio could rise to more than £100 million. Planning permission has already been granted to build up to 292 homes on the Etruscan Square site.

At their meeting last week, cabinet members agreed to launch a process to find a developer to take forward the Etruscan Square site. According to the report to cabinet, an agreement with a private sector partner would save the council the development costs while allowing it to retain some control over the site.

Cabinet member Sarah Hill said: "It's really important that we move this forward quickly. It's been rumbling around for a long while and people want to know what we're going to do, so I think we need to show what we're going to do."

Council leader Jane Ashworth added: "It's really important that we have excellent consultation sessions, so there can't be any possibility of fantasy projects. This will be grounded in harsh reality, it will be properly costed and has buy-in from the public."

The deal with the Etruscan Square development partner could be expanded to include other residential schemes, such Bucknall New Road, North Shelton and Pyenest Street.

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