COUNCIL leader Chris Robbins has promised that Waltham Forest Pool & Track will not close until the new swimming pool at the Arcade site is open.

Responding to swimmers' fears about the future of pool facilities in the borough, Chris Robbins said: “The responsible thing for a council to do is to not close a facility until a replacement is in place.

“It is appropriate to give that guarantee.”

Leading Labour councillors want to close The Pool & Track, and replace it with a new pool in the £35m Arcade site development, which has been delayed.

The Lib Dem group, which is the junior partner in the ruling coalition with Cllr Robbins' Labour, voted against the plan at a stormy cabinet meeting in March.

Lib Dem leader John Macklin fears that both sites will be empty if the Pool & Track is demolished before a replacement pool is built.

Cllr Robbins also emphatically ruled out any hope that the council will continue to subsidise Waltham Forest College pool, which is due to close at the end of the month.