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POOL campaigners have encouraged council staff to become whistleblowers in an effort to find out the future of a derelict site.

Member of the Arthur Hill Campaign handed out leaflets to Reading Borough Council employees, urging them to leak 'secret information' about the sale of the swimming pool.

Since being closed in December 2016, there has been much speculation about what would happen to the facility, which operated as a pool for more than 100 years.

The lobby has been conducting a series of publicity stunts in an effort to remind the council of their frustration.

They started the year by washing the windows at the Civic Offices on Bridge Street, claiming the council had 'not been very transparent' about the sale of the land.

Campaigner Peter Burt said: “Local residents have every right to know who has bought our swimming pool and what it will be used for in future, and are angry about the pointless secrecy surrounding the sale.

“We have used formal channels to politely request information about the sale, but our requests have been refused point blank by Reading Borough Council. We are now taking matters into our own hands.

“We are sure many council staff are uncomfortable about the secrecy over the Arthur Hill sale, which they see as unprofessional, unnecessarily bureaucratic, and against local government's democratic principles.

"We want to give these employees the opportunity to do the decent thing, and leak a copy of the report with details of the sale to us in the wider public interest.”

It has been a number of months since the council met to discuss the sale of Arthur Hill and details of the preferred bidder are yet to be disclosed.

The council says it is common practice for the identity to remain confidential until full terms for the sale have been agreed.

The Arthur Hill Campaign wants a new swimming pool to be built in East Reading, or for the old site to be reopened.

Councillors are awaiting the outcome of a public consultation, based on building a swimming facility at Palmer Park, with the deadline fast-approaching (February 22).