The poor condition of York's swimming pools could cause temporary closures de-spite the council having bowed to public demand and an Evening Press campaign to keep them open.

Members of City of York Council's shadow executive committee heard at a meeting last night that some parts of the pools are in a "very poor condition" and "at risk of imminent failure".

On Monday, council leader Rod Hills pledged to find £7 million to keep the Barbican, Yearsley and Edmund Wilson pools open after public outrage at closure plans sparked the hard-hitting Evening Press Save Our Swim campaign.

Proposals from developers, leisure pro-viders and other interested parties will be examined in September.

But Steve Galloway, chairman of the shadow executive, said he was concerned about what might happen in the mean-time.

He said: "We're all anxious that there's been a reluctance to invest in mainte-nance of the existing pools and we want to be reassured that there are no imme-diate anxieties about a crisis.

"It would be disappointing if we have reached this stage and suddenly we end up with a plant failure which takes one of the pools out of service."

Acting director of the York Leisure office Mr Charlie Croft said: "It has to be said that could happen. The council has con-tingencies for dealing with crises as they happen as they did when the Edmund Wilson pool received bad storm damage last year.

"But, yes, some parts of the pool plant are in very poor condition and there is always a risk of imminent failure of some aspects but I don't see that as especially threatening or something that the council wouldn't be able to deal with.

"The pump has failed at the Barbican be-fore but we were able to put that right.

"Some potential areas would be very se-vere but nothing beyond the scope that's been brought to members in the past."

Coun Galloway also expressed concern for pool employees worried about their jobs while the proposals are considered.

After proposals are handed in on Sep-tember 15, they will be brought back to council committees, evaluated and sent out for further consultation.

Mr Croft said: "There is a system of briefings in place so staff don't feel they're being kept in the dark but I think there will be some continuing uncertainty until September or October when the next set of decisions is made.