Pool size sparks fury

Furious swimmers are complaining that the pool at Stafford's new leisure centre is unable to cope with demand.

Visitors to Stafford Leisure Centre say the pool is often full and temporarily closed to any more swimmers.

The £15 million complex, in Lammascote Road, opened on April 12 to replace the now boarded-up Riverside Recreation Centre.

Its new swimming facilities include an eight-lane 25-metre pool and a teaching pool.

One woman, who did not want to be named, said she was keen to try out the new pool but it was closed to more swimmers whenever she went along.

The mother-of-two, from Wildwood, said: "I'm sure the new pool is very nice but, whenever I or my friends have gone along for a swim, there is a sign saying 'Pool closed'.

"Apparently, they can only allow 147 people in the pool at any one time because of health and safety regulations.

"It means that, because of demand, it is pretty much always full. So, unless you've got the time to queue for ages, you can't get in there.

"It is so frustrating and completely ridiculous in view of the fact that the council goes on about encouraging us all to keep fit."

Councillor Ralph Cooke, Stafford Borough Council's Labour group spokesman for leisure, said he would be looking into the matter.

"Why on earth did we have a pool put in that only allows for less than 150 people at a time?" he said.

"For public sessions, particularly during the summer, we will get a lot of people wanting to use the pool. That is what we want – we don't want to be turning people away."

Stafford Borough Council spokesman Will Conaghan said the new leisure centre could accomodate around 30 swimmers more per session than Riverside.

"Peak times have been at capacity at the new centre but now users have a fantastic new pool and modern changing rooms," he said.

"If the pool is at capacity – and there are still plenty of times during the day when there are spaces available – timed sessions mean potential users are always given an indication of how long they may have to wait for spaces to become available."

Plans for the new leisure centre have been dogged by controversy, with critics complaining that it has fewer facilities than the Riverside.

It has no diving pool, only one sports hall instead of the previous two and two squash courts instead of the previous three.

Riverside is to be demolished as part of a major redevelopment of the area to include flats, a cinema and shops.