A DECISION by Herefordshire Council to give Leominster a grant of £750,000 for a new swimming pool has angered campaigners fighting to build a pool in Bromyard.

The town's swimming pool working party says it is appalled Leominster has secured the council's support when, after so many years, Bromyard has received nothing.

As far back as 1890 ideas were put forward to dam an area of the River Frome to create a swimming pool in Bromyard.

None of the plans have come to fruition, although in 1981 a project to build an indoor pool in the grounds of the Queen Elizabeth High School came close.

However, with over £50,000 in the bank the swimming pool working party continues its work and is in the process of securing a pool site.

The proposed new £2.2 million pool next to Leominster's Bridge Street Sports Park is to be fast-tracked for Sport England funding, also £750,000, after the Sydonia pool closed suddenly on March 8 due to severe structural flaws.

In Bromyard, chairman of the SPWP, Bill Gibbard, said the high cost of the new Leominster pool was a "disgrace".

"We could build four pools for £2 million," he said.

"Why can't they spend £1 million at a pool in Leominster and £1 million at a pool in Bromyard. We'd be able to run the pool forever with that money.

"Instead they are going to take the lottery funding away from Bromyard again. Bromyard never gets anything at all."

Dr Philip Crosskeys, a retired doctor and one-time SPWP member, said: "I would still like to see a pool in Bromyard. I don't know why we never get it. We went to Sport England and they said we didn't have a hope because they had some 450 applications for money for pools.

"There's no hope for youngsters to become proficient in swimming or in life saving in Bromyard. We have had one or two fatalities in the local river in the past because people can't swim. It is very sad."

Herefordshire Council's head of leisure Geoff Cole said: "Although the residents of Bromyard have wanted a swimming pool for a long time, independent reports commissioned by both Malvern Hills District Council and the Bromyard Swimming Pool Working Party have failed to make a strong case.

"Sport England has stated that they would not support an application for a pool to be built and without substantial funding from Sport England, Herefordshire Council cannot support any proposal for Bromyard."