OPPOSITION councillors in York have called for action to safeguard the future of Yearsley Pool.

A Liberal Democrat spokesman said that in September, Labour-run City of York Council had said it would cut the £250,000 annual subsidy given to Yearsley from 2016.

But since then a petition against closure, set-up by the Yearsley Pool Action Group, had been signed by more than 4,000 people and now Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Keith Aspden had submitted a request for a scrutiny review to explore ways to reduce the subsidy but secure the pool's long-term future beyond 2016.

“Our scrutiny review would get councillors, officers, the action group and all interested parties around the same table and talking about how to secure the future of the pool," he said. "This could be by exploring ways to increase revenue at the pool or cut overheads."

Labour council leader James Alexander said he was pleased Liberal Democrats now accepted the need to reduce the subsidy to Yearsley pool and were willing to work with other parties to achieve that, as he had suggested some time ago.