A £1.6m lottery funding bid to help provide a swimming pool on Oxford's Barton estate is expected to be revealed by the end of this week.

Oxford City Council's executive member for leisure, Peter Johnson, expects the Sports Lottery Board to decide on July 10 whether to approve a grant towards a £2.8m pool in the grounds of Bayswater Middle School, in Bayswater Road.

Stage one of the application has already been approved by the board, but that does not guarantee the council will secure lottery funding for the scheme.

If the application is rejected, the council could face costs of £200,000 to stop the project.

Mr Johnson said: "We expect to find out by the end of this week whether stage two has been accepted.

"All applications for lottery funding are currently being reviewed by Sport England, essentially because people aren't buying as many lottery tickets.

"I hope Sport England will recognise that Oxfordshire hasn't had that much lottery funding for sports projects."

Barton newsagent Sue Holden has launched a Sink or Swim fundraising campaign to support the pool, urging customers to 'buy a brick' towards it.

The county council is offering a 60-year lease on the land in exchange for free use of the pool by schools.

Plans for the pool were launched by residents, who even lobbied former US President Bill Clinton about the issue.