Brockwell Lido is shabby and neglected, say users

Users complained that rubbish had piled high for weeks

A south London lido has been called "shabby and neglected" by users who want its operator to improve the historic facility.

Amelia Walker, who regularly swims at Brockwell Lido in Herne Hill, said she first reported "mountains of rubbish bags building up on the poolside" in May.

"You'll come down and there will be sort of 50 or so bin bags spilled out on to the poolside," she said.

Operator Fusion Lifestyle said almost 200,000 people had visited this summer and £500,000 of improvements were planned after the peak season.

"There's grime around the poolside," Ms Walker said. "Last week, when I was swimming, I had bits of tissue blowing into my face."

She added that changing rooms "smell so bad" she avoids using them, describing broken windows and faulty urinals.

Ben Longman, chair of the Brockwell Lido Users Group, said that while the pool itself had stayed open this summer, other facilities such as the gym, sauna and steam room had "spent a long time with outages and with equipment failures".

Operator Fusion said £500,000 will be spent on making improvements at the site, including on the gym

Mr Longman said: "Our concern is that the site isn't receiving the investment that it needs.

"This is such a popular site, it makes quite a lot of money and we want some of that money to go back into securing this community asset for the community."

Another user, Marc Meryon, described a "shabby, neglected, rather run down" feel to the Grade II listed venue.

"A couple of years ago we had to bring our own pliers into the Lido to be able to use the showers because the handles had fallen off," he said.

"The loos are pretty smelly… paving stones are broken and uneven. We've seen people trip and fall."

Brockwell Lido has had 200,000 visitors this summer, its operator said

Brockwell Lido, which opened in 1937, is managed by the not-for-profit operator Fusion Lifestyle on behalf of site owner Lambeth Council.

Mark Rogers, a spokesperson for Fusion, said restrictions linked to the building's listed status limited how much work could be carried out.

"There are hundreds of tiles within the poolside area… they are of historic interest and therefore we are unable to make changes to those which does slightly limit some of the things that we might prefer to do," he said.

Mr Rogers said £500,000 will be spent on making improvements at the site, including on the gym, fitness areas and changing rooms.

"Smelly loos" and general poor cleanliness were among the users' complaints

In a statement, Fusion said the lido had welcomed almost 200,000 visitors so far this summer, a 25% increase on 2024, making it one of its busiest summers on record.

It said it had been awarded "Best Lido in the UK" by Time Out magazine.

The operator said recent works had included poolside saunas, new gym equipment, repairs to the steam room, the hire of a full-time maintenance technician and an increased cleaning programme which had led to "positive cleanliness feedback increase by nearly 50% since June this year".

Fusion said it had frozen concessionary rates for the fifth year running and introduced £2 swims.

"We know the lido is an important part of the local community and we are working hard to make sure it meets the high standards expected by our lido users and our teams," the statement added.

Lambeth Council was approached for a comment.