Kids take to the pool

The first swimmers took to the water as Rugeley Swimming Pool opened with a splash today.

Students and staff from Hagley Park Sports College and Fair Oak Business and Enterprise College took full advantage of the chance to be the first to take a dip in the new £4.25 million facility.

After years of campaigning for better leisure facilities in the town, the project undertaken by Cannock Chase Council is finally complete, although the launch was delayed by four months.

The schools were invited to take part in today's swim although the pool does not officially open until tomorrow. John Hall, the headteacher of Hagley Park Sports College, and Mark Sutton, head of Fair Oak Business and Enterprise College, were joined by the winners of a competition arranged within the schools at the state-of-the-art, 25-metre, six-lane pool at the leisure centre on Burnthill Lane.

Council leader Councillor Neil Stanley said: "We're absolutely delighted to say the pool is now complete.

"I have been campaigning for this for 30 years and to finally see it complete is fantastic.

"We are already getting loads and loads of people booking kids for the free swim sessions we are offering.

"Now we have got to achieve similar new facilities in Cannock and other places across the district." Various events are scheduled throughout this weekend, including football tournaments and badminton sessions to celebrate the opening.

Free swimming for under 16s is also available at Rugeley Leisure Centre from July 28 to August 31, and as well as at Chase Leisure Centre from now until August 31.

The facilities available at the leisure centre now include a multi-purpose studio and an Easyline Circuit.

The delay to the building work on Rugeley's swimming pool and the leisure centre extension was due to bosses at the council deciding they wanted to keep the leisure centre facilities open while the work was carried out.