Staff at the Whitwick and Coalville Leisure Centre are celebrating after achieving an 'excellent' banding score for service quality.

The centre, run by leading operator Everyone Active in partnership with North West Leicestershire District Council (NWLDC), underwent a two-day Quest assessment.

Quest is a continuous improvement tool for leisure facilities and sports development teams - and is managed by Right Directions in partnership with 4Global, on behalf of Sport England.

Whitwick and Coalville achieved an 'excellent' rating, attained by only 22 per cent of Quest-registered centres.

The £22.5million site, which has proved to be a popular venue with people of all ages and interests, scored highly in many areas within the mystery visit and formal assessment elements.

These included health and safety, cleanliness, customer and community engagement, swimming lessons, staff professionalism, social media delivery and environmental management.

Whitwick and Coalville opened in February last year, and boasts state-of-the-art facilities including two swimming pools, a 110-station gym, an eight-court sports hall, a Clip 'n' Climb and a sauna, steam room and spa pool.

Everyone Active's regional contract manager, Dan Hicks, said: "We are delighted with the outcome and believe it is nothing more than the centres and their teams deserve.

"The Quest scheme is very customer focused and as such, quality facilities alone will not result in a 'excellent' banding being secured.

"This is only achieved through strong teams of staff delivering consistently high standards of customer service to the communities they serve."

Councillor Michael Wyatt, Portfolio Holder for Community Services at NWLDC, said: "This is great news for the Whitwick and Coalville Leisure Centre and a fantastic achievement for the district.

"Since it opened, it has made a huge difference to the health and wellbeing of our residents and I'm so pleased that it and, most importantly, the staff who run it have been recognised in this way."