Canoe club fears for future after pool closure

A canoe club has said it will struggle to attract new members if it cannot run indoor beginner sessions over the winter months because of a pool closure.

The Crewe and Nantwich club uses Market Drayton swimming pool on Friday evenings but said the temporary closure of the site had left them "homeless".

The swimming and fitness centre in the town closed until further notice on Wednesday, while Shropshire Council investigates and repairs a leak in the pool.

The authority has said it is liaising with schools and groups who use the centre to find alternatives.

One coach, David Evans, feared an effect on member recruitment, and said without membership money from beginners the club may struggle to invest in new kit and courses.

The canoe club uses the Market Drayton pool for beginner courses because of the warm water and well-lit environment.

Mr Evans said this was vital to getting people comfortable being in kayaks, and without that space they would struggle to hold sessions.

"A lot of the time, we have people who are absolute beginners or they've tried it on holiday. We're not going to be able to take those on because we won't be able to do a course on an evening or weekend to the same standard as in the pool," he said.

"It [Market Drayton Pool] is our home in the winter," Mr Evans added.

"It's highly unlikely that we will be able to find another pool, especially at short notice, because a lot of pools are very particular about letting white-water boats in for fear of damage or contamination."

Councillor James Owen, responsible for leisure on the Liberal Democrat-run authority, said the full closure was the only way to detect and fix the leak quickly.

"Over the last year, it's slowly trickled more and more, and we want to make sure we fix it here rather than wait another six, eight months and it's even more expensive to repair any damage," he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.