THE entire city of York could end up with worse swimming pool provision than Tadcaster under new council plans, a leading Labour councillor claimed today.

Coun Dave Merrett said that the authority was only seeking to patch up the Yearsley pool over the next few years, rather than carry out the major refurbishment that was needed.

He said a council report was warning that if a major problem developed, for example with the pool's ageing roof, that would lead to it closing down. That would leave York with only one pool - the Edmund Wilson baths, or its replacement by a proposed new £4 million community pool on the Oaklands School site.

But he questioned whether there could even be full public access to the Oaklands pool, which would need to be available for pupils to swim in, and claimed York might compare poorly with Tadcaster, a small brewery town with a population of several thousand people which has a good pool.

"Tadcaster could end up with better swimming facilities than the whole of the city of York," he said.

He also criticised the decision to dispose of the Kent Street coach park and car park, branding it a "fire sale."

However, the council's Liberal Democrat leader Steve Galloway hit back, claiming Coun Merrett was poorly briefed after walking out of the Barbican Working Group last week.

"Had he remained, then he would know that there is a full commitment to retain Yearsley and with its existing configuration - a 50-yard pool - £500,000 buys a lot more than "patching up"," he said.

"The new swimming and sports centres on both the east and west of the city are not only better than Tadcaster, they will be the envy of the region."

He said the Oaklands pool would be open at all times, with the only reserved school/university use being on a similar basis to what already happens at Edmund Wilson and formerly at the Barbican.

A council spokeswoman said that a report to be considered by the executive on February 7 did "mention the possibility of the city having to operate with only one pool for a period of time."

But she said it stressed that such a situation would only occur if a major problem caused Yearsley swimming pool to close.

A spokesman for Barbican Venture (York) Ltd said: "We have sought to maximise land values to deliver as high a purchase price for the site as possible.

"How the council then spends that income on development of leisure facilities is a matter for them to decide.

"Had the various difficulties and delays not occurred, the council may have received a higher price, which may well have resulted in reinstatement of the Barbican pool."

Updated: 09:40 Monday, January 30, 2006