Woe for swimmers as Pyramids Centre pool in Southsea is shut for almost a week

The facility was shut on the afternoon of Sunday, January 19 because of a problem with equipment that controls the pH balance of the water, but it re-opened on Friday.

BH Live, the centre's operator, said the delay was due to the issue needing a 'specialist contractor' to fix it.

This is not the first time the centre has shut for a lengthy time due to technical issues.

For one resident it was not good enough. Chris Arnold, 40, from Stubbington said: 'I have cerebral palsy and I go to the pool as a kind of treatment because of the warm water.

‘I used to be a paying member but it was closed so often that now I just pay as you go as I never know when I'm going to be turned away.

He added: 'I don't drive so I have to use a taxi which costs £21 each way. That's a lot of money.

'I think the pool needs a complete revamp because it's still got equipment from the 1980s. The flumes are always shut and they're very rusty.'

Another member, Helen Stanley, says she has noticed a ‘general decline’ in hygiene standards.

She said: ‘I have made complaints in writing about the hygiene in the shower area, which on the weekends is pretty much a bio-hazard.

‘The last three times that my child has gone, he’s been physically sick in the evening afterwards.

‘I can’t prove it’s the pool as it may be him drinking the pool water in quantity, but it’s another nail in the membership coffin.’

David Evans, the council's leisure and sports facilities manager, apologised for the closure.

He said: 'We know it can be frustrating when leisure facilities have to close for maintenance issues and we apologise to anybody who was inconvenienced while the Pyramids was closed this week.

'BH Live has said that they are sorry that a minor fault with the automated dosing system – a piece of equipment which enables us to control the pH balance of the water – took a little longer to deal with than they thought it would.

'We understand that this piece of machinery is normally very reliable and that the technical problem with it needed specialist contractor support and parts.'

Last year the council spent £441,000 on the maintenence of the centre.