Idea for lidos to be 'aquariums'

The plan would include members of the public swimming in the aquariums

A Devon landscape artist has called for little used outdoor swimming pools to be turned into giant aquariums to help protect native British sea life.

Alex Murdin said there was a threat from invasive foreign species like the American signal crayfish and Chinese mitten crab.

He claimed there were seven lidos in Devon which are unused for most of the year and would be suitable.

The government said it was not looking to adopt his idea.

'Visitor attractions'

Mr Murdin, who wrote his proposal in consultation with the National Marine Aquarium and is based at University College Falmouth, said: "We urgently need to raise awareness of bio-security in this country as native species are being wiped out.

"Lidos are perfect ready made places to create centres to regulate invasive species spread by showing the public the problem, encouraging them to report bio-security incidents."

Mr Murdin wants invasive species to be show-cased alongside native ones to educate the public about the threat.

"These facilities could be self funding as visitor attractions if they allowed people to come there to fish, dive or swim next to the wildlife," he added.

Tinside Lido

However, the owners of some pools still need some convincing.

Plymouth City Council owns the city's Tinside Lido.

A council spokeswoman said the lido, a grade II-listed building, underwent a £3.5m refurbishment in 2003 and was used by swimmers during the summer months.

"We don't see how it would work," she said.

A spokesman for DEFRA said non-invasive plants and animals cost the UK economy £2bn a year.

He said: "We're looking to control the spread of non-native species and launched a strategy in 2008, but we are not looking to turn lidos into reserves."