COUNCIL officials seem surprised that visitor numbers have dropped so sharply at York's sports centres. The decline is certainly marked: public swimming is down 16 per cent, while attendance at other facilities is down by 13 per cent.

The decrease, says City of York Council, is "well below expectations".

What do they expect, after hiking the prices by inflation-shattering amounts of up to 45 per cent?

While the council is shocked that so many are staying away, the rest of us are surprised that the decrease is not greater.

It was inevitable that swimmers would use the baths less. Many suddenly found that they simply could not afford to dive in as regularly as they had before.

So who has stopped going?

No doubt it is those who benefited most from swimming: children whose parents do not have the money to meet the new costs; or pensioners who would see their 75p-a-week pension increase all but swallowed by the hike.

The new leisure fees were introduced at the height of the row over proposals to close York pools.

It seemed to be a direct challenge: if you like swimming so much, you won't mind paying a lot more for the privilege. No mention was made of the council's supposed commitment to the helping the city stay healthy.

What the council has missed is that the Save Our Swim campaign was not just about keeping the pools open. It was about access to all: York residents were making it clear that they wanted the city's baths to remain publicly subsidised at a level that allowed everyone to use them.

The price hike ignored that wish, and it has backfired on the council. Any increase in revenue has been offset by the numbers staying away.

The council should cut prices to encourage people to come back.

That would be the smart move politically and economically.