A petition against Medway Council’s plan to scrap free swimming for under-16s and over-60s has been signed by hundreds of people.

The Medway Liberal Democrats have called on the authority to reverse the cost-cutting proposal and say more than 260 people have added their signatures.

The council’s attempt to create a balanced budget for the next financial year includes proposed rises in parking charges across the Towns and the removal of free swimming sessions.

But the Medway Lib Dems say savings should be found elsewhere due to the importance of swimming for residents’ health, particularly children.

In their statement calling for a reversal of the plans, which will be discussed at next week’s Full Council meeting, the Lib Dems say under the existing fees, a family of four can go swimming for £14.30.

If the council’s planned changes are approved, they say this will rise to £25.50.

Stuart Bourne, the Lib Dems’ parliamentary candidate for Gillingham and Rainham, said: “I’m a parent of two children, so I know how hard it is to get them to exercise.

“By stopping the free child swimming, the Labour council is hurting the poorest in Medway who are desperately trying to keep their kids fit and healthy.”

He said free swimming sessions enabled children to gain confidence in the water and said many people had expressed concerns the decision might impact children’s safety around water.

He continued: “At the bare minimum we would like to see free child swimming passes given for all children who are entitled to free school meals.

“This small amount of money could be found from the Splashes budget and ensures the new pool will be available to all children.”

At the cabinet meeting on February 13, portfolio holder for heritage, culture and leisure Cllr Harinder Mahil (Lab) said he regretted the difficult decisions which had to be made to balance the budget, including cutting free swimming.

“No one in Labour and Co-operative fought to get elected last May to take away free swimming concessions...”

However, he said the council was exploring options to increase concessions for children to swim which would mean children would pay £1 for swimming when accompanied by a fee-paying adult.

In response to the statement from Medway Lib Dems, the Labour and Co-operative Group said: “Currently, the budget we have set, which aims to safeguard all of our leisure facilities, requires exceptional financial support to be agreed from the government.

“No one in Labour and Co-operative fought to get elected last May to take away free swimming concessions.

“However, we have had to make extremely difficult decisions to close the budget gap and are pleased we have been able to continue to offer alternative concessions for under 16s.

“The former Splashes site was a project which we inherited from the previous administration and we have worked hard to keep it as efficient as possible, but its running costs will contribute further pressures to our budget.

“However, we are sure no one in Medway wants to see this facility not open later this year.

“We also recognise that across the country around 400 council-owned swimming pools have been closed since 2010.”

To access the petition, click here.

The Medway Lib Dems say they will submit their petition to the Full Council meeting on February 29 when the budget for the next financial year will be voted on.