THE scheme to replace York's Barbican Baths could be delayed by legal action, leisure chiefs are warning.

City of York Council, which closed the old Barbican pool to make way for redevelopment of the leisure centre, intends building a new community pool on the other side of Kent Street.

The project would be funded from the sale of the Barbican site to private operators, with the £10 million proceeds also paying for the refurbishment of the Edmund Wilson and Yearsley baths.

But Save Our Barbican (SOB), the campaign group set up to oppose the privatisation of the Barbican and redevelopment of the site, threatened in the summer to apply for a judicial review of the council's decision to grant planning permission.

It claims the authority failed to hold a proper environmental impact assessment into the scheme, which includes a large block of apartments overlooking properties in Barbican Road. Now Coun Keith Orrell, executive member for leisure, has warned that if the judicial review goes ahead, the developers will not be able to hand over money to the council and the construction of the new pool could be delayed.

He said that the pool process was currently still on track, with specialist firms having submitted expressions of interest and tender interviews due to be held later this month. But beyond that, the process could be held up if a judicial review was still looming.

He said protesters had a right to mount a legal challenge but he did not believe they had a legitimate complaint. Even so, it was not possible to say how long a delay might be caused by a judicial review.

He believed the protesters wanted to see an improvement in facilities, and they must look at what would be best for the community.

Ernie Dickinson, spokesman for SOB, said it was still making efforts to investigate the prospects of a judicial review.

He denied that SOB would be to blame for any delays, claiming it was the council's fault for allowing a "gross overdevelopment" of the site, failing to examine sufficiently its impact on the environment, and failing to consult properly.

Updated: 08:23 Tuesday, October 05, 2004