Leisure centres in a Norfolk district are facing an uncertain future as they struggle against rising costs and falling use.
Alive West Norfolk, which runs facilities in King's Lynn, Hunstanton and Downham Market, has run up a deficit of more than £2.3m last year, which has prompted West Norfolk Council to take action.
The authority is now considering bringing the organisation back in-house after the council-controlled company failed to deliver on its aspirations since it was set up five years ago in 2019.
Currently, AWN, which runs Lynnsport in King's Lynn and Oasis in Hunstanton, is struggling due to low visitor levels attributed to the cost of living crisis.
It is also thought the ageing condition of the leisure facilities is also adding to the financial burden.
Having weighed up other options, officers believe the best solution is to transfer AWN back to the council, which it says will reduce costs and streamline the delivery of its services.
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It will also bolster hopes of gaining funding to improve the facilities on offer.
A budget of £20,000 has been proposed to cover the costs of transferring the service in-house.
At an environment and community panel meeting this week, members discussed the proposal.
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Councillor Alexandra Kemp said: "I am all in favour of councils running services. It needs investment and we can do this better if we take it back."
An officer said that currently "prices have gone up but the quality has gone down" at the facilities and that bringing it back in-house will make it easier to get value for money.
Simon Ring, deputy leader of the council, said: "The whole service needs to be efficient. It has become too unwieldy but bringing it in-house will achieve this.
"People talk about these facilities costing us money but part of that cost is a spend to try and improve the wellbeing of our residents. We shouldn't be making a profit from that, it has long-term benefits to try and equalise health inequalities in the borough."
A decision will be made later this month.
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