ANOTHER swimming pool is set to shut down on the grounds of essential maintenance works, the council has revealed.

There was fury amongst residents last year when Reading Borough Council (RBC) was forced to shut down Arthur Hill Pool.

It sparked a massive petition to keep it running and community campaigners setting up a company to try and take if off the council's hands.

Now, the authority has announced the pool at Academy Sport Leisure Centre in Northumberland Ave will shut down for four months in just a matter of weeks.

A council spokesman said: "The pool at Academy Sport – previously known at South Reading Leisure Centre – now dates back to 1983.

"The Whitley pool was transferred back into the management of Reading Sport and Leisure this year, after being operated and managed by the John Madejski Academy since 2007.

"The Council is now replacing much of the original plant and equipment at the pool as part of a major investment programme which will allow the pool to operate in future years."

Work on the site will include fitting a new boiler to heat the pool and installing a new ventilation system.

The pool will close down on October 2 and the council has reprogrammed school swimming lessons while it is closed.

Councillor Sarah Hacker, lead member for sport, said: There is never an ideal time to close a pool, particularly for this length of time, but I hope regular users of the facilities will appreciate that these are major improvement works, which make a complete closure unavoidable.

“Much of the fabric of the pool at Academy Sport has been in place since it opened in 1983 and now needs complete replacement. Officers are taking the opportunity to carry out a number of improvement works at the same time to avoid future inconvenience. We expect the pool to be open again early in the New Year when swimmers can look forward to a much more pleasant swimming environment and more reliable facilities."