Plug to be pulled on pool

A popular Wolverhampton swimming pool is to be closed for good as it needs £600,000 of repairs. The pool is based at Compton Park Activities Centre.

The facility, which was built about 30 years ago and includes a sports hall, shares the St Peter's and St Edmund's schools' site, adjacent to the college's Paget Road campus.

Thousands of families have used the pool over the years as well as schools including Wolverhampton Girls' High and the college.

Its closure will be delayed until July next year to give the two secondaries time to find alternative swimming venues.

The decision was taken at a private council meeting last night. Education chief Councillor Christine Irvine admitted afterwards health and safety had been a serious concern for some years.

The authority's annual repairs budget for the venue was only £20,000, with no additional money available for major structural works.

She said the schools that regularly used the pool were "not keen" to take on financial responsibility for the centre, which was now well beyond its "shelf life."

"It is with regret that we are proposing to close the centre," she said. Pools at a number of schools on the western side of the city could fill the gap, she added.

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