A Kenilworth councillor has been told to "just bear with" officers over an update on the rising costs of the new swimming pool in Abbey Fields.

A report presented to Warwick District Council's (WDC) cabinet last week showed an extra £279,000 had to be paid to AR Demolition in March for the works on the new leisure centre.

The extra costs had to be agreed by the chief executive - rather than councillors - due to the urgent nature of the decision.

A separate council report presented to cabinet last week also included a warning that while the increased costs would be taken from the budget for the project, "there will come a point towards the end of the project, when there will not be sufficient budget to complete the development".

And with the council having already had to splash out an extra £8.3 million across the Castle Farm and Abbey Fields leisure projects, Cllr Richard Dickson asked the council what further cost increases are expected.

"Since these payments were agreed in late March, can you please advise what further payments to AR have been agreed in April, May and June and how these compare to the agreed budget?" He said in a letter to WDC officers.

"Also in the absence of any report on either the forthcoming O&S agenda or the cabinet meeting next week [now past] about the status of this project and options, can you advise when councillors will have an opportunity to discuss the possible best way forward and the implications for the state of Abbey Fields and the provisions of swimming pool facilities for residents in and visitors to Kenilworth?"

However, no further details were published in response to Cllr Dickson's questions.

"Could you just bear with us on this one please," the reply from officers said.

"The medieval remains finds are playing havoc with our plans and Paddy [Herlihy - programme manager] is discussing with our professional advisors to get a revised programme in place.

"Paddy will be providing a full update for all councillors shortly."

Work at Abbey Fields has been pushed back as plans to include the archaeological remains continue to be discussed.

The extra £279,000 signed off in March were "due to the archaeological finds, issues with utility companies and disconnections and requirements of greenspaces which has seen additional work required for enabling works" the report said.

"Further work is required for demolition works, due to archaeological finds and guidance by Historic England who can halt the project if deemed necessary," it added.