A community-run swimming pool has closed due to a lack of cash.
Soaring energy bills have resulted in the Kirkcudbright pool having to shut until further notice.
Manager Colin Wyper said the move was made following an emergency meeting of the pool board, which unanimously agreed to the closure.
He said: “We can’t keep it open on a whim and a prayer.
“We received £10,000 on Friday from the Friends of Kirkcudbright Swimming Pool to pay the wages and we now have just a couple of grand in the bank.
“It works out at £2,500 a week to keep it open, not including wages. It’s only because of rising energy bills that we’re really struggling.
“We’ve had to come in and shut everything down to try to save money.”
Kirkcudbright Swimming Pool is owned by the local community, having opened in 1997.
It employs 12 staff, with around 1,000 people using the facilities each week.
However, rising energy bills – such as the cost of biomass pellets more than doubling – led to the pool closing on Monday.
The Friends of Kirkcudbright Swimming Pool charity – which is separate to the board – helps fund the pool.
Money comes from The Friends charity shop and there is also an investment account which Mr Wyper believes is worth more than £200,000.
He is reluctant to use that as a long-term solution to the problem as it would only last a few years, leaving the pool nothing to fall back on in an emergency.
But steps are being taken to use some of that money as a short-term option to get the pool back open.
Chairman of the pool board Brian Matthews said: “The only way we’re going to get it reopened is with a reasonable influx of cash, which we can put in until something more permanent comes along.
“We have written to the Friends of Kirkcudbright Pool to have some of the money in the investment account released.
“The investment account used to earn around 12 per cent and we had money coming in from the shop.
“Things have changed and I’ve said there’s no good having an investment account and no swimming pool. We need some of that money to get us out of this fix we’re in at the moment where we can’t afford the bills and we can’t afford to pay the staff.
“The last £10,000 from the shop was used to pay the staff which is very important to do.”
Long term, the pool is aiming for more of the operating profits from the town’s Silvercraigs caravan park. Kirkcudbright Development Trust has a deal with the council to operate the park and a management agreement with the pool to run the site.
In return, the pool receives 10 per cent of the profits – but Mr Wyper and Mr Matthews are looking for more.
Mr Matthews said: “It’s run very well, it’s clean and I get good reports back from people.
“We know we deserve more of the profits and three members of the board had a meeting with the development trust. It was very amicable and they went away with our suggestions.
“Hopefully we can come to an agreement that would give us substantially more of the profits. It’s only fair.”
Lesley Garbutt, who is chair of both The Friends of Kirkcudbright Swimming Pool and Kirkcudbright Development Trust, was unable to comment on the situation.
She had previously confirmed trustees of the development trust had met with pool directors.
The closure has provoked an angry reaction on social media with the pool team considering holding a public meeting to explain the situation.
