A swimming pool that has been shut for almost six months will reopen today.

The closure at The Swallows in Sittingbourne was put in place in November as part of a £2 million makeover of the Avenue of Remembrance centre and Sheppey Leisure Complex.

Dave Harcourt, chief executive officer at Swale Community Leisure – the trust managing the centre – said: “We’re pleased to announce the work to the Swallows pool has been completed and we’ll be open to the public from noon on Wednesday, ahead of the May half-term school holidays.

"Also, swimming lessons will resume from June 1.”

He added: “We would like to again take this opportunity to say we appreciate our customer’s patience while we made the pool ready to reopen, rest assured this was in the interests of customer and staff safety.

“The first phase of our centre’s transformation is now complete and we’d urge customers new and old to come and take a look at the improvements.”

Mr Harcourt said the first phase included repairs to the pool’s roof and air handling units, as well as broken tiles and a thorough clean while the pool was drained.

The centre’s extended gym is due to be completed by Saturday, June 1, while the new instructor-led and virtual spin studio has opened, alongside the revamped café and reception.

Work is also being carried out to install a new healthy lifestyle gym and family adventure zone.

The new facilities are due to open to the public by end of June and final redecorating will be completed before the summer.

The pool was expected to reopen on April 1, but Mr Harcourt said unforeseen tile damage to the pool surround came to light.

He said: “The tiles dried out and lifted, so had to be replaced. The additional work also created more mess which, of course, needed to be cleared and cleaned.”

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