Falmouth Town Council has put out a statement to clarify its discussions over the future of Ships and Castles leisure centre site on Monday.

These will take place at the April meeting of the full council this Monday, when councillors discuss the the outcomes of a previous meeting with Cornwall Council cabinet member Richard Pears.

It had been due to take place last Monday, but had to be postponed after mayor Steve Eva and town clerk Mark Williams both tested positive for Covid-19 following a trip to France for the 80th anniversary of the St Nazaire raid in World War Two.

It was previously reported that one of the options being offered was for the site to be "devolved" to the town council.

This was raised by Falmouth town and county councillor Alan Jewell, during an extraordinary meeting of Cornwall Council's overview and scrutiny committee last month.

At the meeting Mr Jewell said he was grateful to cabinet member Richard Pears for meeting with him and Falmouth Town Council the previous week, to discuss the future of the Ships and Castles site, adding: "There is an option on the table for the town get this facility devolved.

"So I want to make the committee members aware of that and that the meeting will be next Monday, the fourth, when the town council will be voting on whether to get this devolved."

However, this week the town council said it was incorrect to say that devolution of the site was being considered, as Cornwall Council had confirmed that it would not be passed to the town council as either an operating business or an empty building.

Instead, the discussion will be around how to protect the Pendennis headland and the best way to provide leisure facilities to people in Falmouth going forward.

A spokesperson for the council said: "On behalf of the Falmouth Town Council, I would like to clarify that Ships and Castles is being considered in the context of the mayor’s recent meeting with Cornwall Council.

"However, it is incorrect to state that the matter of site devolution is being considered, as Cornwall Council have confirmed that the site would not be devolved to the town council either as a going concern, nor as an empty premises.

"The discussion will be around how to protect the headland from undesirable development and future leisure provision for Falmouth."

The decision of Cornwall Council's cabinet to close Ships and Castles in Falmouth was "called in" last month, after the overview and scrutiny committee decided not all the evidence had been heard.

However, the cabinet subsequently voted to keep the same decision, with the leisure centre closing its doors for the last time on March 31.