The chances of Moseley Road Swimming Baths being fully re-opened appeared to be receding last night after Birmingham's leisure chief said he was opposed to the "barminess" of modernising old facilities.

Ray Hassall, cabinet member for leisure, sport and culture, said it was time to build new multi-purpose sports centres rather than spending millions of pounds patching up decaying buildings.

Centres, with fun pools, jacuzzis and health clubs, were proving popular in other West Midlands cities and were likely to be used by more people than baths built in the first half of the last century, he told a scrutiny committee.

Coun Hassall (Lib Dem Perry Barr) did not disagree when it was suggested to him the cost of fully re-opening the 100-year-old Moseley Road Baths would be more than £20 million.

A consultants' report prepared for the council reportedly sets out a range of costs from £17 million to £30 million, but is yet to be released publicly.

His views put him at odds with fellow Lib Dem Martin Mullaney who described Coun Hassall's comments as "shocking" and said the money to restore the Moseley Road complex could be found if the political will was there.

The council spent £1 million on urgent repairs two years ago and the smaller, less ornate of the two Moseley Road pools re-opened to the public in 2006.

Coun Hassall told the committee he would be guided by a sports masterplan for Birmingham, being drawn up by the council and Sport England.

He warned the financial drain of the 2012 London Olympic Games on Government funding made it less likely that Birmingham would be able to undertake expensive renovation projects.

The Heritage Lottery Fund, a possible source of cash for the Moseley Baths, now stands at only £19 million compared with £100 million a decade ago.

The council also faces an unexpected £3 million repair bill for the Wyndley Road swimming pool in Sutton Coldfield - up from an original estimate of £300,000 after asbestos was discovered in the ventilation system.

Coun Hassall said the restoration of the Moseley Road Baths had turned out to be a far more expensive project than was first estimated. Use of the baths was poor compared with participation rates at new sports centre, he added.

Coun Hassall said: "My job is to look at the strategic resources of the city and how we are going to go forward. The running costs of some of these modern pools are far cheaper than the ones we have got.

"I am not crazy about continually repairing. There is a case for me that the council has to take a decision to start knocking down and building new. When you put new in, people go.

"We are stuck in this barminess of putting new stuff in buildings that are 70 or 80 years old. We have to ask ourselves, when do you stop and start building new?"

A spokeswoman for Coun Hassall later stressed there was no intention to close the Moseley Road Baths.

Coun Mullaney (Lib Dem Moseley & Kings Heath) said: "He hasn't discussed any of this with the Liberal Democrat group. I had a meeting only last week with Ray to talk about Moseley Road Baths and he gave no indication that these were his feelings.

"There is a lot of work that needs to be done to get the baths restored, but there is a good business case to be made. Obviously we have to find the funding but if the political will was there it wouldn't be a problem.

"The council has to find the money for an expensive new library in Centenary Square but that isn't an issue because the political will to do it is there. There is in my view no reason why the money to fully restore Moseley Road Baths cannot be found."