A SELBY area school swimming pool could close this year due to budget cuts.

Closure of the pool at Sherburn High School is set to be considered by the school’s governing body at a meeting this month.

Bob Packham, recently re-elected Labour councillor for Sherburn-in- Elmet ward, said concerns had been raised by local residents over the future of the pool.

Coun Packham said: “It is important that other options are investigated to see if this facility can be kept open for the benefit of the high school and the primary schools in the cluster, and whether community use and management is possible.

“It is disappointing that the high school has a number of facilities that are not available in the village, such as the pool, sports pitches and an indoor sports hall that could be more widely used by the community, outside school hours.”

Martin Sibley, head teacher at the school, said: “We are having to look very carefully at our budget and one area our governors have been looking at for a while is the viability of our swimming pool. The pool is running at a loss of about £13,000 a year, because North Yorkshire County Council in previous years has subsidised pools in the county, but last year that was removed.”

Coun Packham said Sherburn’s public facilities were already behind similar-sized villages in North Yorkshire and any opportunity to address this should be taken.

Mr Sibley said that no decision had been reached as to the future of the pool, and that the school governors would consider all budgetary suggestions Mr Sibley said: “At the moment we are in the consultation process.

“We have to look at all possible ways of reducing cost that we can. We have asked for ideas and ways forward from parents, and we’re talking to one or two people in the community at the moment with business plans and looking into whether they are viable or not.”