30 July 2012 Last updated at 20:30

Redditch Crematorium delays plans to heat town pool

The project to heat Abbey Stadium leisure centre won a green award

Plans to use a north Worcestershire crematorium to heat a town swimming pool have been delayed until the end of the year.

Redditch Borough Council said the delay at Redditch Crematorium was due to extra work being carried out there.

The work, which was has been criticised by unions, will divert waste heat which escapes from the cremator chimney into Abbey Stadium leisure centre.

The council said it would save taxpayers about £16,800 a year.

The new system, which was expected to be operational by late summer, will also heat the crematorium.

Equipment is also being installed so that the crematorium meets new laws to reduce mercury emissions.

The two cremators, which have been working for 12 years, and the flue network are being replaced.

The Labour-controlled council said the work would bring the crematorium up to modern standards.

Unison initially attacked the plans as "sick and an insult to local residents" when they were first announced.