A £12M leisure centre's foundation stone has been laid.

Dr Bryan Jackson, chairman of East Midlands Development Agency, had the honour of officially starting building work on the brownfield site near the A6 between Matlock and Darley Dale.

The centre, scheduled to open by summer next year, will include a moveable floor in the centre's eight-lane competition swimming pool that will meet regional and county level competition requirements.

A main sports hall will comprise county standard badminton courts and facilities for indoor hockey, basketball, volleyball, five-a-side football, netball, gymnastics and cricket nets, with a second hall for aerobics, dance, fitness classes, martial arts, parties, table tennis and yoga. There will also be a cafe, meeting rooms and a community room to replace Darley Dale Community Centre .

The building also incorporates eco-friendly solar panels and rainwater recovery.

Mr Jackson has described the development as "an iconic development that will put Matlock on the map for all the right reasons".

He added: "It's an exciting project. It frees up some of the town centre for development, creates a fantastic facility for anyone who lives in this area and hopefully will draw in many more visitors to the area, benefiting the local economy."