Two "vital and visible" hearts of the Mole Valley community have had their futures secured for the better part of two decades.

The running of the leisure centres in Dorking and Leatherhead will be handed over to a new partner after Mole Valley District Council agreed on a preferred bidder to take over their running for the next 15 years.

Both centres, members at the council's Thursday July 27 cabinet committee heard, will be operated by the same group in order to maximise "efficiencies".

The winning bid was whittled down from a group of five contenders although at this stage the council has not named them, deciding it would be better to keep that information private.

Introducing the decision was the cabinet member for leisure and tourism, Cllr Nick Wright.

The Liberal Democrat member for Dorking South said: "I think we all know these two leisure centres are vital and very visible parts of our community.

"They are both extremely well used with annual visits returning to the pre-covid levels."

Dorking Sports Centre. (Photo: Google)

He told the meeting the Leatherhead centre attracted about 750,000 visits a year with a further 500,000 people using the Dorking site.

Cllr Wright said: "The centres also represent a significant investment by the council in the past. Although we chose to partner with external operators to run these centres we also expect to get a meaningful financial return…while providing the best quality service to our residents."

Mole Valley District Council weighted the two final bids equally for quality and cost with the losing bid actually rating as the marginally higher calibre option, but far more expensive.

Both bids exceeded the council's budgeted expectations and its projected mid-term financial shortfall will be reduced as a result.

This, the council said, comes despite "significant changes affecting the leisure market, such as greater competition from 24-hour budget gyms operating in both Leatherhead and Dorking, together with increasing staffing and recruitment challenges and an on-going impact from the Covid -19 pandemic."

The Dorking and Leatherhead sites, currently operated by Places Leisure and Fusion Lifestyle respectively, generate a combined management income of £975,000 a year.

Investment will be made into the centres as part of the new contract, the council said.