A LEISURE chief has revealed that York's Barbican Centre may not fully close down at the end of May after all.

Charlie Croft, City of York Council's assistant director of leisure and lifelong learning, says the authority is currently looking at which services could be extended "where appropriate" beyond the original June 1 closure date.

He said this was being done regardless of the possibility that a public inquiry might be called into the controversial scheme to redevelop the sports and leisure centre.

He said: "We are closely monitoring the scheme's progress through planning and are ready to respond accordingly.

"We will make sure that services are maintained for as long as possible and ensure that the gap between the old and the new is as short as possible.

"We will make firm announcements next week if extensions appear to be necessary in the light of our latest understanding of when all the necessary agreements and permissions will be in place.

"It could mean some staff being asked to work a little longer at the Barbican".

He added that the authority expected to extend some services in the auditorium in any event.

Mr Croft, who did not say at this stage which services might be extended, or for how long, was responding after calls were made yesterday by the Save Our Barbican (SOB) campaign for the closure to be postponed and staff redundancy notices withdrawn. SOB chairman John Issitt said today that "reality was beginning to dawn on council officers", who were now beginning to take SOB's concerns seriously.

He repeated claims that people who were pushing the plans forward had pre-judged the outcome of the entire planning process, and said the plans should be removed immediately.

Mr Croft said planning was an independent process, and it would not be appropriate to speculate on the outcome.

He said: "But, in the meantime, we must plan ahead. For the staff it is essential that we work with individuals to make alternative arrangements for them.

"We have been working with staff and unions for some time to deal as smoothly as possible with these very difficult issues for our staff. It would have been very unfair on the staff to wait until the pool closes to discuss their futures".

Coun Keith Orrell, executive member for leisure and heritage, said the council was "past the point of no return - any delay simply puts events scheduled for later in the year (e.g. snooker) at risk".

Asked to clarify that, Mr Croft said that if a public inquiry was called, the refurbishment would have to be held up until after the World Snooker tournament.

Updated: 11:20 Thursday, March 18, 2004