Parents have complained after a company operating council-owned leisure centres began charging toddlers to swim.

Everyone Active, part of the Sports and Leisure Management group, previously allowed under fives in Redcar and Cleveland to swim for free.

But it recently began charging tots and told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) it had been forced to make the change because of the “challenging economic climate”.

A child under two will now pay £2 for a single session and three to four-year-olds £3.30 each with the cost of any parents accompanying them on top.

Some parents took to social media to complain about the introduction of charges.

One said: “With increases in the cost of living going on they are now expecting parents to pay between £7.50 and £8.80 to take their child swimming, possibly more if both parents want to go.”

Another said: “I know the company will have its costs like anyone else, particularly as far as energy is concerned, but this is the lowest hanging fruit in terms of the age of the children we are talking about.”

The LDRS asked Everyone Active if the introduction of charges for under-fives was across the board and had come in also in neighbouring Middlesbrough, where it also operates.

But a spokesman said the change only affected certain contracts it had.

Paul Ayre, a contract manager with Everyone Active, said: “Much like the whole country, we are feeling the effects of a significant increase in utility costs. 

“In order to continue to provide a high level of customer satisfaction and efficiently deliver our swimming programme, we have implemented a small cost for under-fives swimming.

“Since covid under-fives have swam for free at our centres and this was an increase we strongly wished to avoid, but unfortunately it has been forced upon us by the challenging economic climate.

“We hope our customers understand the reasons behind it and continue to participate in the fantastic swimming programme, with children and adults who take part in our award-winning swim lessons remaining eligible for free swimming sessions.”

Redcar and Cleveland Council have a contract with Sports and Leisure Management – which operates under the ‘Everyone Active’ banner – to run its leisure facilities.

Last year former cabinet member Steve Kay said the council was working with the operator to minimise its overall energy usage as part of its effort to eventually become carbon neutral and to mitigate the impact of energy prices.

Cllr Kay said SLM was incentivised to reduce energy consumption where possible as part of the agreement the local authority has with the firm.

The council previously supported SLM with some of its losses during the covid-19 outbreak, paying £739,000 in subsidy support in 2021/22, although £220,000 of this was offset by national leisure recovery grant funding from the Government.