A COUNCIL has been slammed for closing an outdoor swimming pool at the beginning of the school holidays.

Charlton Lido, in Hornfair Park, Shooters Hill Road, has been closed for 18 months to allow a major refurbishment of the pool to begin.

But according to Tory councillor Graeme Coombes, work on the lido has not even started and Charlton Swimming Club are still being allowed to use the pool despite members of the public being turned away.

In an email to Cllr Coombes, Greenwich Council’s legal officer confirmed work had not begun because the council had failed to sign the lease for the site over to developers Open Waters.

Father-of-two Andrew Riley, of St John’s Park, Blackheath, says the council is a disgrace for closing the pool during the summer school holidays.

The 43-year-old said: “I think it’s a crying shame that the pool isn’t opened given we are in the middle of a global recession and not everybody can afford a swimming pool.

“For those people, an open air pool right on their doorstep is vital and that’s why we pay our council tax.

“It’s a terrible, terrible waste and it’s closed to the very people who need it most.”

Cllr Coombes has blasted the council for not publicising the closure enough, providing just a brief note tucked away deep in its website.

He said: “It’s truly astonishing.

“Our young people, too often denied good sporting facilities in Greenwich, will be denied yet another local facility.”

When the Lido reopens it will include a new Olympic diving facility, a gym, and improved parking facilties.

The council has refused to say why Charlton Swimming Club are able to use the pool, but not the public, and says details of the lease are still being finalised.

Cllr Coombes will table a motion at a full council meeting next Wednesday (July 29), calling for the Lido to be opened during the summer with work starting in the autumn.