Swimming pools have closed in about one in six UK areas since 2019, an investigation has discovered. Freedom of Information requests to councils nationwide found that 65 pools had shut, either temporarily or permanently, in the three years to March 2022.
Ukactive, an organisation which represents gyms and leisure centres, has blamed a shortage of staff, increasing energy costs and scarcity of chemicals. It says these factors have created a "perfect storm".
Greg Whyte, a board member at Ukactive, called the closures an "absolute health and welfare disaster". Meanwhile the body's chief executive Huw Edwards said "lives are at stake" if pools shut.
