Designs for the long-awaited Sparkhill Swimming Pool and Leisure Centre have been welcomed by city planners - meaning work can now get under way.

The planning permission for the new facility means the derelict old Stratford Road baths, a locally listed historic building closed since 2009 when asbestos ceiling tiles fell into the pool, will be demolished.

The new pool is being built as part of a £36 million investment in six new pools throughout the city and run by an outside contractor at no cost to the city council.

It will include a 25-metre, six-lane pool, a learner pool, an 80-station fitness suite, dance studio, community room, sauna and steam facilities.

Demolition of the old baths was opposed by the Twentieth Century Society which said it was a vital part of the collection of historically significant buildings along with Sparkhill Library and Police station.

But committee members, although lamenting the loss of the building, admitted it had fallen into such a poor state of repair it would be better pulled down.

The city's conservation panel had also raised concerns but instead demanded changes to the new pool's design to complement the neighbouring buildings.

Panel chairman Barry Henley, a member of the planning committee, said: "Thanks to the intervention of the Panel we now have an acceptable design."

The panel ensured that the front facing Stratford Road was redesigned.

Coun Mohammed Fazal (Lab Springfield) added: "People have been waiting for this for a long time. They will be proud of this new facility."

City leisure bosses hoped to open the new pool in September this year, to coincide with the closure of Moseley Road Baths - but the construction timetable in now under review.

Last year, the city council was successful in securing a piece of Olympic history. A full-size London Games training pool, dismantled after the 2012 event, will be installed in the Sparkhill leisure centre.