SWIMMERS were turned away last night as the last remaining council-run pool shut its doors to users.

Edmund Wilson Pool staff told customers a technical fault had forced the early closure - just a day after the council's Yearsley swimming pool had shut.

A City of York Council leisure boss said the closure of the two sites within 24 hours was coincidental. In the face of anger from some users, he stressed the council's commitment to providing leisure facilities for residents.

Coun Keith Orrell, executive member for leisure, said today he did not know how long the Edmund Wilson pool, in Thanet Road, Dringhouses, would remain closed. Heating and emergency lighting problems led to the closure, he said.

A council spokesman today said the Yearsley Pool, which closed because of a heating system failure, was expected to reopen on Monday.

Lynn Duggan, who uses the Edmund Wilson centre twice weekly, was among those to have had a wasted trip last night.

"It makes you sick," she said. "What grieves me is that the Barbican could have been used for a number of months when they closed earlier this year. It has put more pressure on this swimming pool. The ladies' sessions in particular have got busier.

"Is the council bothered about fitness for people? It says it is, but then close down facilities. The people of York don't seem to have any say about what's going on any more. The council is just closing down fitness facilities. Everything is going private, which is fine, if you can afford to go to a private gym."

Regular Sarah Wilcox said: "They have had technical problems there before. It is crazy. With the size of the population of York, there are limited facilities, especially with the Barbican Centre closing."

Sue Brown said the pool's closure was "really very annoying", especially as evening sessions were busy with people going after work.

Amanda Bottomley and Jackie Crosby who were turned away from their gym session were disappointed, but understanding of the situation.

"It is a one-off. If I had dragged three kids down it would be different, but I haven't," said Amanda.

Shane Chalmers, head of total leisure management, said there had been a technical problem with the emergency lighting system, forcing the centre to close for Health and Safety reasons. "We have to close the building because if the lights go out for any particular reason we are putting the public in danger.

"It is purely coincidental that Yearsley closed on Monday. It is just two completely separate incidents within 24 hours. We want to get the facilities up and running as soon as possible."

Updated: 10:09 Wednesday, November 10, 2004