SWIMMING pools in the York area are being hit by massive hikes in the cost of gas and electricity – and swimmers are facing higher admission charges to help them meet the bills.

Pools are being particularly hard hit by soaring energy costs because of the need to keep water and buildings warm throughout the year.

Tadcaster Community Swimming Pool’s gas bill is set to double from £35,000 to £70,000, while its electricity bill is set to almost triple from £50,000 to £135,000.

Manager Chris Porter said he would have no choice but to raise entry fees at some stage and he claimed many pools would become unviable without more support.

He said there were also issues with supplies such as chlorine, for which costs had risen sharply.

GLL, which runs York’s swimming pools, said it had experienced a 250 per cent increase in energy bills across its business since April 2019 and it had recently increased its admission prices to help offset some of the costs.

A spokesperson said: “Spiralling energy costs and infrastructure investments needed to meet ‘net zero’ carbon pledges mean the cost of providing a swim is rising.

“We want to keep pools open - learning to swim is a vital life skill as well as having clear benefits to community health and wellbeing.

“The only long-term solution is to use less energy - that’s why we are investing in energy saving technology.”

They added that further assistance was required from the government.

Shelley Lawton, chair of Stamford Bridge Community Pool, said it had seen an increase in running costs, such as national insurance and minimum wage increases, as well as a 63 per cent hike in the price of oil, along with increases in other fuel costs.

“We expect our running costs to continue to increase this year mainly due to fuel and energy prices,” she said.

“Our prices increased at January 2022 once we re-opened the pool after a significant investment in re-lining the pool.

“We may need to review our hire costs in the future, but should these need to change we will give our users plenty of notice.”

Industry body ukactive said rising energy costs could pose a threat to the nation’s health and wellbeing as “vulnerable” swimming pools and leisure centres were put at “major risk of closure”.

It said operators with swimming pools would see bills increase by up to 150 per cent and CEO Huw Edwards had written to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak to call for increased support for facilities. It said Swim England chief executive Jane Nickerson had backed the plea in a bid to secure the long-term future of pools.