Save Coventry 50m pool petition signed by 6,000 people

The Fairfax Street sport centre could be closed as part of plans by Coventry City Council

More than 6,000 people have signed a petition to save the only 50m swimming pool in the Midlands.

Campaigners have also organised a Save Our Swimming gala taking place later at the Fairfax Street sport centre - home to the Olympic-size pool.

Coventry City Council is proposing closing it and building a new leisure centre with a 25m pool and water park.

The authority said it was currently reviewing the responses from a public consultation into its plans.

Jo Deakin, from Coventry Swimming Club, said the gala was being staged to show the council the benefits of having a 50m pool in the city.

She said: "We are aware of the economics of the situation and that the centre can't go on as it currently is but we want to show this pool is needed not just for us as a club but for the whole city.

"We're not anti-water park but we're saying to the council it shouldn't be instead of an Olympic-sized pool, it should be there to complement it."

A spokesman for the council said: "We are working through the responses to our consultation and carrying out feasibility studies on various options.

"One of those studies is whether it is possible to have a 50m pool at the new proposed site."