Residents across the Towns can take a dip in Medway’s only open-air swimming pool to keep cool today, as council bosses have decided to open the lido for the warm weather.

Medway Council has decided to open the Strand pool in Gillingham, between 11am and 5pm today, tomorrow and Wednesday, as forecasters are predicting temperatures could reach up to 32C.

The Friends of the Strand Pool, Fosp, which was set up after council bosses decided to slash the pool’s opening hours, spent a day cleaning Medway’s only open-air pool at the beginning of the month to encourage more people to take a dip.

The group held a picnic at the lido last month to celebrate the pool’s 120th anniversary.

Victoria Hill, chairman of Fosp said: “It’s a brilliant asset. We want people to cherish it and use it.

“People are saying it’s so sad the hours are restricted but we’re very positive.

“We just want to work with the council on a long term basis so next year the season can be full.

“We’ve met with the council and they’ve been very positive about working with us.”

She said the campaign over opening hours was just the start of Fosp’s work, adding: “It will be a good thing in the future to have a friends group so we can help protect it for another 120 years.”

The council sparked anger by reducing opening to just weekends until Sunday, July 24, and then daily until Sunday, September 4, between 11am to 5pm.

For a number of years the pool has been open from 8.30am to 7pm, seven days a week.