FURIOUS parents are planning to descend on Maidstone Town Hall for a protest about rule changes that will prevent them taking their children swimming (Lee Winter writes).

Carolyn Warner, of Vinters Park, Maidstone had taken her two sons – five-year-old son Aaron and 19-month-old Kieran - to use the pool at Maidstone Leisure Centre, but was shocked after being told she was not able to supervise them alone.

The pool is one of the first in Kent to introduce a policy stating children aged three and under must be accompanied in the water by an adult on a one-one basis.

An adult over 16 must also accompany four- to seven-year-olds on a two-to-one basis.

The rules, published in 2002, have been adopted on the recommendation of the Institute of Sport and Recreation but parents say it takes away the basic right to teach their children to swim.

Mrs Warner, 31, led a protest on the issue outside the leisure centre entrance on April 10 with over a dozen other worried parents.

Leaflets accusing Maidstone Council of taking away one of the most basic pleasures for young children were handed out.

Over 200 people have already signed a petition that will be handed into councillors at Maidstone Town Hall after the Easter holidays.

Mrs Warner said: "Some of the safety ideas being introduced at the pool such as the gates on the baby teaching pool are fab but a lot of it is insane.

"The supervision rules are going to hit single parent families and working families. Those with more than two young children are also going to face serious problems going to the pool.

"I hope that the council will give some thought to this and realise the impact it is having on parents. It is not a minority of people. It is a massive number."

Jon Hymus, the manager of the leisure centre, said that while a number of customers would be restricted safety benefits would "far outweigh any inconvenience."

He said: "The rules aren't there to inconvenience anybody. We put them in place to enhance child safety and they're there as part of our risk assessment.

"If a child were to die there would be an entirely different sort of demonstration taking place outside.”

The centre is looking at the possibility of some programmed sessions to allow one adult to supervise two children.