My pain is worse since Auchinleck leisure centre closed

A leisure centre in East Ayrshire has been closed with immediate effect, despite a local campaign to keep the facility open.

East Ayrshire Council planned the closure of Auchinleck Leisure Centre for last November, but locals pushed back against the decision.

They said it would lead to increased costs, including travel to the nearest alternative facility in Cumnock.

Council leader Douglas Reid blamed financial issues for the decision.

He acknowledged the "overwhelming public objection" but said local leisure provision would be maintained.

The leisure centre's pool has been temporarily closed since the beginning of the month due to costly maintenance issues.

Mark Carter, a retired police officer who was injured on duty decades ago, said the closure meant he had to return to strong painkillers after years.

Regular swimming sessions at Auchinleck meant he could go morphine-free for the last two years after relying on it for chronic pain relief for more than 20 years.

"When I moved here, I was probably on the most prescribed morphine you can get," he told BBC Scotland News.

"I was in a wheelchair and in a bad way. But the swimming built up my core muscles - I went four times a week. I was able to come off the morphine so I'd been morphine-free for nearly two years."

However when the Auchinleck centre closed over Christmas and for the last two weeks, he needed to go back on opioids.

"And I'm now in a lot of pain," he said. "Yesterday I could barely move.

"It's really not somewhere I want to go back to. I've been forced back into my wheelchair as well."

He said Auchinleck Leisure Centre Committee (ALCC) was now looking at the possibility of a community asset transfer in a last ditch attempt to save the centre.

However the council said the condition of the leisure centre had worsened significantly since December, incurring costs of more than £10,000 to address water ingress and roof damage.

A spokesperson said it added to the "financial burden of trying to keep an underperforming facility afloat".

East Ayrshire Leisure Trust said Visions Leisure Centre and the Barony school campus, both in nearby Cumnock, would absorb the services on offer at the centre without disruption.

And the changing rooms and football pitches at Auchinleck will remain open until a replacement facility at nearby Merlin Park is upgraded.

But Mr Carter said the decision was "disgusting and disgraceful, with no account for the local people at all".

"For so many it's not possible to get to Visions," he added. "And they keep changing the times and cancelling things - they're not reliable.

"Often parts of the pool aren't marked off and if someone jumps on my spine, that's me finished.

"But Auchinleck have always gone the extra mile for people and they couldn't bend over backwards more."

The closure has led to the Cumnock Dolphins, a swimming club which has been around for 60 years, opting to fold instead of relocating to Visions.

Visions said club officials were contacted and offered pool space, but the offer was declined due to compatibility.

Alongside swimming sessions in the pool, the Auchinleck centre also provides a space for other clubs such as gymnastics, football and taekwondo.

Mr Carter added: "Without the local centre, where are young kids going to go to join clubs, do sport or activities?"

East Ayrshire Council leader Douglas Reid said the decision was "hard", but members from all parties had agreed on the next steps.

He said: "We recognise that there is an overwhelming public objection to this closure - and we thank everyone involved for taking the time to share their view with us - but at the same time we cannot ignore the financial problems surrounding this facility, which are quite literally staring us in the face.

"Our communities deserve to be able to access facilities that are fit for purpose and in their current state, these facilities are not and in the current financial climate there is no money available to bring them all up to the standard our communities expect.

"However, there are other suitable alternatives within the same locality and we will continue to work with these organisations to ensure people do not miss out on the leisure activities they enjoy."