THE company behind Herefordshire's public swimming pools is telling people they need to shower before jumping in as the country faces a chlorine shortage.

Chlorine is added to swimming pools to kill germs like salmonella and E. coli.

When added to pools, it forms a weak acid called hypochlorous acid that also kills germs that cause viruses such as diarrhoea and swimmer's ear.

The reasons for the shortage range from a reduction in production in China to Brexit and the war in Ukraine.

But Halo Leisure, which runs the pools in Hereford, Ledbury, Leominster and Ross-on-Wye said it was preparing for if supplies reach critically low levels.

Alex Haines, Halo's partnership manager in Herefordshire, said the firm, also a registered charity, was working closely with suppliers.

Levels of chlorine are still the same as normal, but the firm was "working up plans should the supply becoming critically low".

"Our pools are safe and clean and there is no risk to customers and no services are currently compromised," he said.

"Swimmers can play their part by using the showers before entering the pool as this can help with pool hygiene."

Saxon Pool in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, was closed to general swimmers earlier this month due to the shortage.

The Pool Water Treatment Advisory Group (PWTAG), a UK-based independent membership organisation, told the Guardian that there was a national shortage of calcium hypochlorite, a solid form of chlorine. That had driven up prices by between 50 and 60 per cent.