Swimmers have reacted with fury to a council’s plan to charge people £7 an hour to take a dip in the sea.
The open-water swimming pilot will start in the spring in Bristol Harbour where lifeguards, safety vessels and water testing will be on hand.
Officials say 80 people will be permitted to take part as long as they book in advance online.
The trial will run for five weeks along with a 200m swimming course every Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 10am, from April 29 until May 28.
Bristol mayor Marvin Rees said the council will “monitor costs” throughout the trial scheme.
Some swimmers online criticised the 'steep' £7 per hour charge.
One wrote on Twitter : "The absolute state of this country that we're being charged to swim in the damn sea.
"[And] we have to do sampling to make sure the water isn't too full of sewage before swimming."
Another questioned how 'safe' the water was, writing: "I don’t know about nowadays but back in the 90s the harbour was notoriously polluted.
“As a kid I was under strict instruction never to touch the water.''
However some took a more positive outlook on the price, with one Bristolian writing: "I mean the swimming pools around town cost over a fiver, plenty of other open water swimming locations charge a similar amount to this, and the lido in Clifton is 25 quid for 2 hours.
"So I don't think 7 quid an hour is actually that bad."
Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees wrote on his blog: "Open water swimming has become increasingly popular over recent years and we know there are many groups and individuals in Bristol who want the opportunity to enjoy it safely.
“Bristol’s harbour is a working area in an integral part of the city. To make sure we can offer an area that is safe to swim there must be measures in place to ensure the health and safety of all harbour users. This means having an area of our harbour cordoned-off to create a course specifically for swimming which can be safely accessed
“We have listened to people’s requests for a safe swimming space in our harbour and have been working with local and experienced partners to explore how we can make this a reality,
“We have also been working with partners like Wessex Water to check the water quality and look at how we can put in place additional testing to ensure it is safe before allowing people into the water.
“Throughout the pilot we will monitor costs, up-take, and any impact on our ability to maintain a safe environment throughout our harbour.”
