A PARALYMPIC hero was back on home soil to open a new swimming pool.

BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2012 winner and Paralympic gold medallist, Josef Craig, opened the new £4m Jarrow Community Pool.

Craig took the first public swim in the 25-metre, four-lane pool, which has a hydraulic floor to allow for depth alteration along with a deep end to enable competitive swimmers to dive.

Eileen Leask, mayor of South Tyneside, said: "The pool will be a real focal point for the whole community and we want to see all sorts of local clubs and groups as well as our schools making the most of it."