A swimming club says the town needs a new pool after storm damage forced the one at a leisure centre in Sittingbourne to close.

Sittingbourne and Milton Swimming Club, which has been around for more than 120 years, says it has been affected by The Swallows’ pool closure, with its membership attendance dropping by 50 per cent.

Helen Hockney, committee member and coach, said this was because the club’s swimmers and coaches were having to travel to Leysdown, Hoo, Gillingham and Maidstone for sessions.

“It’s a bit of a nightmare,” she said. “We’re between those four pools at the moment, which involves a lot of travelling for our swimmers and coaches and, due to commitments these pools already have, we can only take what they have available.”

The 35-year-old added: “We have had five swimmers reach Kent swim finals this year, which is a huge achievement, but The Swallows’ closure really affects their training, hence why we have been working hard to find alternative pool time.

“Swallows’ management have been very good at keeping us informed so far but, with an unknown timescale for repairs, our fear is members moving elsewhere to other clubs due to the disruptions.”

This is the second time the pool has had to shut. It closed for almost six months as part of a £2million makeover of The Swallows and Sheppey Leisure Complex and reopened last May.

Mrs Hockney said: “It’s such a shame this has happened again.

“We could really do with a brand new lane pool for the ever-growing town.

“Pool time is hard enough to come by as it is at The Swallows, as it’s very much in demand from the public, schools and families, so a purpose-built lane pool would be amazing and much-needed.

“Swale council [which owns The Swallows] needs to step up here and get these works finished or invest in a new pool.”

The council said it was working hard with specialist roofing contractors, Swale Community Leisure (SCL) – which runs The Swallows – and Serco Leisure to come up with a permanent fix for the roof issues.

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