Bid to stop swimming pool closing

Councillors are trying to overturn a decision to close a Shropshire swimming pool at the end of the month.

North Shropshire District Council says the pool at Wem will shut because it is not cost-effective and the authority may have to pay £500,000 for repairs.

But proposals to set up a working party to look at ways of retaining the facility will now be discussed at a full council meeting next Wednesday.

A motion to raise the issue again was signed by 14 councillors.

Lease expires

The director of community services, Peter Appleton, says Wem and Ellesmere are the least cost-effective and least-used of its four pools.

He added that their running costs account for a quarter of the money which the authority needs to save.

It also wants to stop contributing to the cost of running the Ellesmere facility, which it jointly funds with the county council.

The authority has said it has decided not to renew a 14-year lease with the county council, which expires in May.