Seeing smiling youngsters splashing around for the first time in Barton's brand new swimming pool was a very special moment for one woman.

Local newsagent Sue Holden, who spearheaded a decade-long campaign to get a facility on the estate, shed tears of joy when she saw Year Five pupils from Bayard's Primary School test the water yesterday.

The campaign for a swimming pool in the area first surfaced in the 1960s, but the idea sank when money which had been raised for the project went missing.

And that's how it would have stayed had Mrs Holden not rallied the community together to support the scheme eight years ago when Barton received Government funding to regenerate the area.

Numerous projects were put forward but Mrs Holden battled to ensure that the pool idea stayed afloat.

Fighting back the tears yesterday, modest Mrs Holden said: "It has taken such a long time, but it has been worth waiting for.

"It is the coming together of all the agencies and the community and this is what we have got.

"We are all on about this healthy living style and the kids have got no excuse now. They have got a pool on their doorstep and it is within walking distance of everyone on the estate."

The four-lane, 25-metre pool which also includes a multi-purpose room cost £2.8m to build and was funded through a £1.7m cheque from Sport England and £1.1m from Oxford City Council.

Yesterday, about 20 10-year-olds from Bayard's Primary School had the honour of being the first people to try out the state of the art facility.

The pupils won an internal competition in the school to come up with a design to be displayed in the reception area.

Teacher Diane Carbon said: "What some of these children realise is that lots of the older residents have campaigned for years to get a pool in Barton. I hope that they and their families will encourage the rest of the community to use the pool and treat it with the utmost respect because it is such a wonderful facility."

Use of the pool will be free to anyone under the age of 17. Rebecca Ritchie, 10, said: "It is really good because we had not got that much to do. We had to travel on a bus to do things and now it's situated here."

Xhoi Demi, 10, added: "The changing rooms are really nice and the water is lovely and warm."