Two eagerly-awaited show-piece sports venues are expected to finally open by the summer.

Both the F51 skate park at the junction of Tontine Street and Dover Road in Folkestone and the new athletics track at the town's Three Hills Sports Park have been plagued by delays in their construction.

But it is now expected that F51 will open its doors this spring, before the new track is up and running in the summer.

A spokesman for the skate park project has this week confirmed they hope to make an "announcement regarding opening date very soon".

Funded and developed by the Roger De Haan Charitable Trust as part of regeneration plans for Folkestone, F51 will ultimately be managed by the Shepway Sports Trust.

Over the years it has received celebrity endorsements from American rapper MC Hammer and pro-skater Bam Margera.

The multi-million pound project was first proposed in 2015 but as been plagued by a series of delays due to its complex design, escalating costs and previous issues with cladding.

In October, the long-awaited opening of the skate park was pushed back yet again – this time because of a combination of Brexit and Covid.

The bespoke facade for the striking structure has been sourced from Spain, where delays were cased by pandemic restrictions that were even tighter than here in the UK.

Believed to be the world's first multi-storey skate park, the centre will feature suspended concrete skating bowls, plywood ramps and street-scene skating, which will also be suitable for BMX riders.

Delays to the athletics track at Three Hills were also revealed in the autumn, when it emerged concerns over the depth of the culvert carrying the Pent Stream under the site had forced construction to cease.

Work has since been able to restart after engineers re-drew plans based on the new understanding of the location of the water course.

When the track opens in the summer it will be home to Folkestone Running Club.

Currently, athletes in Folkestone have to travel 25 minutes by car to reach similar facilities, at either Ashford's Julie Rose Stadium or at the Canterbury Academy.