ASBESTOS has been found at another York swimming pool, the Evening Press can reveal today.

Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show council chiefs were alerted to the potentially dangerous substance in a "variety of locations" in the Yearsley baths building.

Internal briefing notes show that a survey identified asbestos residue under the upper floors.

It also revealed sections of the ventilation services were insulated with an asbestos material.

The information was not made public, but City of York Council today stressed there was no reason for swimmers to stay away from the pool.

A spokeswoman said asbestos classed as an "immediate risk" that was urgently removed posed no risk to pool users, because it was in a plant room closed to the public.

She did not believe staff had been exposed, as she did not think the fibres had been disturbed in that room.

"We don't want to panic people," she said. "The pool is safe."

News of the asbestos find comes in the wake of a similar discovery in a plant room at the Edmund Wilson Pool in 2002. Swimmers were also then re-assured there were no safety worries.

The discovery follows a spate of problems at the city's three troubled pools, which have led to closures due to heating and ventilation glitches, and delays to refurbishment plans after legal wrangles over the Barbican development.

Charlie Croft, assistant director for lifelong learning and leisure at the council, today said: "The council commissioned a comprehensive report on the presence of asbestos at Yearsley Pool and the findings were assessed by experts.

"Any asbestos which presented an immediate risk was professionally removed."

He said: "We have a management plan in place to ensure the asbestos which remains does not present a risk to users or staff at the pool and tests are carried out periodically to make sure that there are no asbestos fibres in the air.

"The asbestos which was removed posed no threat to public health as it was contained in the plant room, not accessed by members of the public."

The briefing document, dated September 2004, said the council knew for some time that the roofing panels at Yearsley were an asbestos-based product.

But it said that it had not known there were traces of asbestos under the upper floors or in parts of the ventilation system.

Fiona Evans, of the Yearsley Pool Action Group, said she had been told about the asbestos find.

She said: "As far as I'm aware there was no danger to the public. I'm confident it was dealt with in a professional manner."

The asbestos found in a survey carried out in March 2004 was a mixture of brown and white.

Updated: 10:03 Friday, May 13, 2005