Young swimmers from Shrewsbury have been told they can no longer use the diving boards at the town’s pool.
The youngsters visited the Quarry Swimming and Fitness Centre last Friday and didn’t find out that a ban on under eights using the boards had been introduced until they got into the pool.
Parents say they were told the rule was changed that day because of a previous incident involving a four-year-old boy who had fallen off the diving board steps and cracked his head before landing in the pool.
Several unhappy mothers complained to staff about the change of policy which they claim was not given any publicity at reception or on the entrance to the pool.
Alison Wray, of Belle Vue, had invited her Wolverhampton-based sister Jill Core and her children, specifically to use the boards. And only the day before, Alison’s seven-year-old daughter Millie had used the facility.
She said: “We were left with some very unhappy children and if we had known about the changes in the rules we probably wouldn’t have bothered going.
“What really got us was that we weren’t told about the kids not being able to use the diving board until we were in the pool and couldn’t believe it had not been advertised there.
“To be fair to the staff they apologised to us and gave us a full refund.”
Jill said: “The duty manager said the new rule had just come in force from the county’s health and safety executive following a survey by an outside body.
“A four-year-old boy had fallen off the diving board steps and cracked his head before landing in the pool and he couldn’t swim.”
Jill added that since the incident on Friday, notices about the change of rule at the centre have now been put up.
Nobody from the Quarry Swimming and Fitness Centre were available to comment as the Chronicle went to press.
By James Pugh