COUNCIL leaders will meet today to discuss the future of a village swimming pool.

Campaigners have vowed to do whatever it takes to keep Wolsingham swimming pool open after Wear Valley District Council announced that it was pulling out of a sharing scheme that was costing the authority £20,000.

Council leaders Ian Philips, from Wear Valley District Council, and Kingsley Smith, from Durham County Council will meet district councillor for Wolsingham John Shuttleworth and pool campaign chairman Dr Maggie Deytrikh at the District Council Offices in Crook today to discuss options.

The county council has stated that it still intends to use the pool for education purposes, but Wear Valley council is withdrawing the funding that it provides for public use and the pool will close to the public this week.

Dr Deytrikh, who is a County Durham GP, said the closure of the pool to the public had caused a lot of bad feeling in Weardale.

She said: "I feel that the closure of the pool to the public contradicts my attempts to prevent important diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.

"Learning to swim is part of the National Curriculum, and although children may learn to swim at school, they need a local pool to practise their skills, and not least build their self-esteem, confidence and have fun in the holidays."

Dr Deytrikh is chairman of an action group that met for the first time on March 19.

She said that more than 60 people attended the meeting which was held at short notice, and believed more would have come along if they had known about it.

James Sykes, 32, lives in High Stoop, near Tow Law, and frequently uses the pool with his son Oliver, three.

He said: "Oliver has been swimming here since he was three months old. The staff here are very friendly and patient and it is an ideal place for him to swim.

"There are no other facilities around here. Surely the people of Weardale deserve to see something for their taxes?'