Leisure centres in Wirral are under-used and struggling to attract new customers, it’s been revealed.

The news comes after the council said a £1m overspend by its environmental department was largely down to falling numbers of people attending facilities across the borough.

The local authority said it was now looking at ways of improving its leisure centres.

Speaking ahead of a meeting next week, when the overspend is set to be discussed, a Wirral council spokesman said overall, the local authority was actually projecting an underspend in the current financial year, “thanks to strong financial management”.

He added: “The overspend referred to within our ‘environment’ services is due in large part to our leisure centres and sports facilities being under-used and not attracting new customers to bring in additional revenue.

“Council officers will be bringing reports to cabinet soon which will provide proposals for how these services will be delivered in the future – making them stronger, more sustainable, commercial and better able to meet residents’ needs.”

Regarding the overspend, Lib Dem group leader, Cllr Phil Gilchrist, said “explanations need to be offered”.

“I queried the problems in achieving planned savings at the recent audit committee,” he said.

He added: “It’s frustrating when things don’t go to plan. The holes in a budget may be filled by clamping down on something else. That also has consequences.

“Often it’s a cut in repairs or maintenance. Savings ought to be realistic. When they aren’t achieved, watertight explanations need to be offered.”

The figures are from a financial monitoring report for the third quarter of 2017/18, and due to be discussed by the council’s environment overview and scrutiny committee on March 28.

Cllr Gilchrist added: “The purpose of scrutiny is to learn from mistakes and put things right.”

Green Party Cllr Pat Cleary added: “It would appear that budget projections have been unrealistically optimistic and this will be a concern going forward given the ongoing pressures on council funds.”

According to the report to be discussed by councillors, the overspend in sports and recreation mentioned by the spokesman was £850,000 of the £1.04m total.

It said operational changes at Woodchurch Leisure Centre, for which a consultation is now ongoing, as well as delays in works at Leasowe Recreation Centre, were some of the causes of the overspend.

Income in general from leisure centres is also “down on anticipated levels”, the report added.

It said waste was another reason for the overspend due to planned savings in the cost of a council contract, adding: “Whilst unlikely to be realised in year, officers are working on a series of options that may deliver the required saving in subsequent years.”

A freeze on all “non-critical” environment-related expenditure has been introduced, estimated to save £140,000 by the end of the year, as well as “revised pricing structures”, which will generate around £50,000 by the end of the financial year.

Elsewhere, the forecast for council business is much healthier.

On March 27, the council’s business overview and scrutiny committee will hear details of a forecasted department underspend of £4.2m.