Cost-of-living crisis: Rye swimming pool closed by Freedom Leisure

A leisure centre has temporarily closed its swimming pool, with the operator blaming rising energy costs.

Freedom Leisure runs Rye Sports Centre on behalf of Rother District Council.

The not-for-profit trust said the 25m pool will remain closed until a review in early spring.

The chief executive of the national governing body for swimming said he fears the pool in Rye will be the first of many to close, and called on immediate government action.

Freedom Leisure said its annual energy bill had increased at an "alarming rate" from £8m to £20m nationwide.

Maintaining the pool in Rye costs £92,000 a year, which the company say they cannot "absorb".

Freedom Leisure chief executive Ivan Horsfall Turner said: "We are frankly devastated that it has come to this.

"Public sector leisure is one of the most exposed sectors because energy costs are such a large proportion of our overall costs, particularly with swimming pools, and as a not-for-profit leisure trust, we operate at very low surpluses and these increases simply cannot be absorbed."

Swim England chief executive Jane Nickerson said: "The very real danger is that Rye is merely one of the first dominos to fall and we will see further closures across the country.

"People rely on these vital facilities for their physical and mental wellbeing, as well as for teaching children a life skill that could one day save their life. It will be a travesty if the government doesn't recognise how valuable they are to society."

The council's head of communities, culture and tourism, Hazel Timpe, said the closure was "sadly unavoidable".

Freedom Leisure, which manages 19 sites with swimming pools in the South East, recently reduced swimming pool temperatures after energy bills quadrupled.

A pool at Willen Lakes in Milton Keynes, which is also run by Freedom Leisure, has also closed.

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