KEEN swimmers in Abingdon are calling for extended opening hours at the town’s refurbished outdoor pool so those who work stop missing out.

Abbey Meadow outdoor pool was reopened last month following a £1.3m revamp by Vale of White District Council, with the two original pools combined, as well as a beach-style sloped entrance and improved changing rooms.

Since then families have flocked to the community attraction with soaring temperatures seeing weekend sessions fully booked days in advance.

Naomi Richardson, from the Abbey Meadow Consultation Group, described the pool as ‘a victim of its own success’, however, and that the district council and GLL, which manage the pool under the name Better, needed to be more flexible.

She said: “Everyone loves the pool and since it reopened there has been a real buzz in the town centre. Although people are impressed with the structural changes, I’ve been tracking a long list of complaints being made about its operation.”

She explained the main issue was the ‘restricted’ opening hours, saying: “They do not allow anyone who has a job to use the pool or to take their families after work.”

The pool is currently open from 9am until 6pm, with adults-only swimming sessions running from 9am until 11am on weekdays.

But with the school summer holidays fast approaching and the hot weather expected to continue, pressure has increased for the Vale and Better, which manage the pool, to look again.

Ms Richardson said: “The demand for these sessions cannot possibly be evaluated if they are not at least trialled. The fantastic weather would have been ideal to determine a ‘peak demand’ for these. It does not make economic sense to invest £1.3m in an asset and then not have it open when people wish to use it.”

Ms Richardson said there were also problems with online booking not working, adding if the issue was not fixed it risked ‘undermining all the positive feeling’.

A GLL spokesperson said: “Since the reopening of the pool, we have reviewed the pool’s capacity and found that we could increase this, whilst maintaining customer safety and comfort.

“We will continue to work alongside Vale of White Horse District Council to monitor and assess the demand for access to the pool, to ensure that our facilities across the borough remain as accessible to the community as possible.”

They added the company was aware of booking issues via the mobile app and urged people to use the website.

Alice Badcock, Vale Cabinet member for leisure, said opening hours were the same as previous years but added: “Alongside our contractors GLL, we will continue to monitor and review the demand and interest for increasing the hours of use and consider if there is a viable business case for doing so.”