A PORTISHEAD mum has been left fuming after being barred from the leisure pool at her local swimming pool.

Rebecca Jones visited Parish Wharf Leisure Centre with her nine-month-old son and two friends with their babies.

After a splash in the shallow pool they decided to visit the bigger pool, however, finding it a bit too boisterous for the babies, they returned to the leisure pool, only to be told there was no room for them.

Mrs Jones said: “I was astounded that effectively, having paid to take our babies swimming, we were being barred from the baby pool which was most suited to them.

“I feel very strongly that if there was likely to not be room for us in the family leisure pool, we should have been told when we arrived.”

After several minutes of hanging around, the two friends were told they could enter the pool, but Rebecca was told there was still no room for her and that she may have to wait up to half-an-hour.

She added: “This doesn’t seem a fair system, where just because we wanted to see what the bigger pool was like, we couldn’t get back in to the baby pool, the experience completely ruined our day out.”

Keith Evans, contract manager at Parish Wharf says this is an unfortunate situation but safety has to come first.

He said: “I would like to apologise for any unpleasantness these customers experienced, but each pool has a maximum bather capacity which we have to strictly adhere to for the safety and wellbeing of all pool users.

“When the leisure pool is close to capacity, members of staff at our reception desk are informed, who then pass this information onto the customer at point of entry.

“It would seem that at the time Mrs Jones and her friends arrived, numbers were not yet at our trigger points causing no concern that the pool would soon be operating a one-in-one-out system which prevents overcrowding.”