Families have been left fuming after staffing shortages have led to large parts of a public swimming pool being almost constantly closed.

Disappointed swimmers arriving to enjoy the rapids, diving boards, slides or teaching pools at Maidstone Leisure Centre have been met with disappointment – yet still expected to pay the same entry price.

A source at the complex, in Mote Road, told KentOnline the diving boards and rapids in particular were rarely open now because of a lack of lifeguards.

It comes as Maidstone council last week pushed back a decision on the future of the leisure centre, opting instead to spend £2m on a minor refurbishment.

Since Christmas, families heading to the centre for some splashing fun have been charged the same prices, £27.75 for a family swim, but been unable to enjoy all the facilities, with no warning of the closures on the centre's website.

Alison Lawrence travelled 30 miles to try out the pool after a recommendation from her sister.

The mum, from Orpington, said: "When we arrived there was a big queue to get in and it was one in, one out, which I thought was a bit strange.

"Obviously it was because there was only one small pool open. My children were particularly looking forward to the rapids and the diving pools, as my nieces and nephews always raved about them.

"It was actually our second attempt at going to the pool as we had previously gone at the beginning of December and been turned away as it was about to close at 4pm because they were apparently working to the Christmas timetable. It wasn't even the school holidays.

"We will certainly not be going all that way again. It was too disappointing. They are quite happy to charge the same price for about a quarter of the facilities."

Grandma Kim Martin, from Rainham, did not have to travel quite so far but was still left fuming after her disappointing visit.

She turned up with her grandson Mason, 10, and his friend Connor to find the slide, the rapids and the spa were all closed.

She said: "They were still happy to charge full price though. We live in Rainham, so it is a bit of a trek, but we always go there.

"Half the pool was roped off, there were no wave machine, no slides, no rapids, no baby slide, no spa, no flume, and they only had one or two inflatables where usually there would be loads."

She added: "I spoke to the lifeguard and he said the rapids were permanently closed and that they couldn't open anything else unless manned by a lifeguard following a health and safety visit."

Kim said she emailed to complain after her visit in January but has received no response.

She added: "They are also still charging full price and advertising a family lagoon pool. It's not until you're in the pool you find out it’s not actually worth it. The children were very disappointed."

Katie Hunt, who lives in Shepway, had the same issues when and her partner took her mum and his son, Ethan, for a family outing

She said: "We arrived at 8.30am and went straight in but nothing was mentioned about most of the pools being closed.

"We came out of the changing rooms at 9am, and just stood around with no one saying anything. Eventually a lifeguard turned up at 9.10am but only opened the main pool but no jacuzzi and no rapids.

"So it was pretty boring for an eight-year-old. We couldn't use the other pools due to lessons.

"We won't be returning. It got so busy by 10am it was basically people on top of each other but they still wouldn't open up the rest."

The website gives no indiction of the closures, still boasting access to five swimming pools, pictures of children enjoying the Aqua Challenge and listing family fun (with waves and features) on the timetable.

Mrs Lawrence added: "Maybe if they gave some indication on the website that most of the pool was closed I wouldn't have bothered driving so far and been left so frustrated."

Serco, which runs the facilities on behalf of Maidstone Leisure Trust, said in a statement: “We apologise to all recent visitors to Maidstone Leisure Centre who have experienced disappointment at finding certain attractions at the facility not open on the day of their trip, and a lack of information on our website which would have alerted them to these programme changes.

"This regrettable situation has shown that as an operator we need to improve how we communicate with customers, and as such we have developed a new peak/off-peak plan which details the times and days each attraction will be in operation.

“The new plan will provide a clear picture of what’s available at the centre, so that families can plan their days out better. This information will be displayed on our website, while any amends to the list of what’s on will also be communicated via that channel.”

The council's contract with the trust is set to expire in August, but its economic regeneration and leisure policy advisory committee wants to renew that until 2031.

It says in the meantime it will look at the centre's long-term future.

The authority had proposed rebuilding the facility, built in 1970 and dubbed "the most polluting building in Maidstone", back in 2019, with a new centre that would open this year.

But spiralling cost projections mean that a decision on that has now been kicked into the long grass.

The likely cost of a replacement has risen from £35m to £41m since it was first discussed, and a refurbishment from £30m to £35.25m.

Instead the council wants to spend £2m on a minor refurbishment in the meantime.

The idea would be to create a new cafe area closer to the entrance, and to glaze off the pool area from the rest of the building to prevent heat loss. The cafe move would also allow the introduction of some new indoor play areas.

At last week's meeting Cllr Paul Harper (Lab), put forward a motion that would have committed the council to either opening a new leisure centre or carrying out a major revamp of the existing one.

After it was defeated, he said: "It's incredibly disappointing. We need a date and commitment to when this will happen.

"We've already had to allocate an extra £1m in the annual budget to cover the increasing cost of repairs to the 50-year-old centre.

"We can't keep putting this off - there will come a time when the decaying building will have to be closed on health and safety grounds."