Biggleswade pool closes due to chlorine shortage

A public pool has been forced to close to general swimmers because it has run out of chlorine and other chemicals.

Saxon Pool in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, has cancelled almost all swimming sessions to manage its supplies, until it can receive its latest batch on order.

The problem has been blamed on fires at supply factories, Brexit, Covid and the war in Ukraine.

Operator Central Bedfordshire Council "apologised for any inconvenience".

The leisure centre pool was closed on Friday, with only swimming lessons going ahead along with a pre-booked "swimathon" event this weekend.

"All other sessions will be temporarily unavailable until we are able to take delivery of the required chemicals," the council said in a statement.

"There is a shortage of chlorine and pool acid across all leisure centres, [which] are having to manage usage and chemical supplies.

"This is an international problem along with a national issue - it has been an issue due to Covid and Brexit, along with the Ukraine war.

"But recently there have been fires at supply factories, which has caused an increase in demand and some leisure providers are stockpiling."

Swimmers have been advised to travel to Flitwick or North Hertfordshire leisure centres instead.

Independent councillor Steve Watkins said: "The council needs to answer if they have their demand planning right and are they talking to other local councils to get hold [of supplies]."

He said it was a "silver lining" that education sessions were still running.

"[But] it's scant consolation to the majority of residents, especially as we're coming up to the summer months - it's going to be peak time for the pool and they are still not giving us any indication of when it's going to open."

Other parts of the country have also been hit by the problem, with Hartlepool Council announcing in March that a number of pools in the district had shut due to the shortages.

In Norwich, a pool reopened on Tuesday after closing on Friday due to supply issues.

The Sportspark at the University of East Anglia had to shut, citing "severely depleted" stocks of chlorine gas across the UK.

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