More than 500 people have pledged support to the reopening of Calne Leisure Centre from all over the country.

As well as donating cash many people in the town donated their time on Sunday to help organisers strip the centre before the builders move in.

Shares are being sold in the leisure centre for £10 and organisers aim to sell 1,000 by December.

Calne Leisure Action Group, which became the limited company Calne Leisure Ltd, is now waiting to sign a lease on the building before builders can get to work. But the action group has already recruited a leisure centre manager and is starting to make plans to interview applicants for other jobs.

Former councillor and finance director of Calne Leisure Ltd Peter Dolman said: "We are actively working for recruitment.

"The response to our pleas for staff has been amazing.

"We are sifting through the applications and plan to have a job fair soon so we can look at putting people in jobs.

"This leisure centre will be place for Calne people to come to and will be staffed by people from the town, making it a real community leisure centre."

On Sunday volunteers flocked to the centre to sign up for shifts.

Builders, traders and even decorators showed up to show support and offer their skills.

Volunteer project manager Mark Saint said: "The work is going extremely well.

"I am still looking for a part time site manager to help us out and would ask if anyone has any experience in this sort of work, who can spare a few hours, to please contact us."